LCR23184

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral of a trade dispute under Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.

BACKGROUND:

The Worker referred this case to the Labour Court on 28th January 2025 in accordance with Section 20 (1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969, and agreed to be bound by the Court’s Recommendation.

A Labour Court hearing took place on 12th September 2025.

RECOMMENDATION:

The matter before the Court is a unilateral referral by the Trade Union under Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969.

The Union’s members sought to be represented by the Union in discussions about proposed changes to the shift system in operation in the company. The company refused to engage with the union on that issue and proceeded to unilaterally implement a new shift cycle (from a 6-week cycle to a 4-week cycle), which the Union asserts has negatively impacted the terms and conditions of employment of its members. 

The Union submits that the implementation of the new shift system was unfair and that counterproposal made by workers should have been considered by the company which would result in a better work-life balance for its members. It seeks, as a resolution, that the Court consider the matter of what shift is most appropriate in the company.

The Employer declined to attend the hearing and instead submitted a document outlining its position on the matter in dispute. As the Employer did not participate in the hearing, the Court was deprived of an opportunity to engage with it in relation to the matter before it.

The Court’s function, when hearing referrals under section 20(1) of the 1969 Act is to hear the parties and set forth its opinion on how the matters in dispute between the parties should be resolved. The workers in this case have agreed to be bound by the Court’s Recommendation; the employer is not bound to accept the recommendation but may do so should it choose.

Having regard to the circumstances of this complaint, as articulated by the Union at the hearing, the Court is of the view that there is little value from a dispute resolution point of view in issuing a Recommendation to the parties on the most appropriate shift arrangements to apply in the company, in the absence of hearing the employer’s view on that matter. As a result, the Court declines to make a recommendation on that matter.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
JNF	______________________
6 October 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Julie Nicholl Flood, Court Secretary.