LCR23183

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Referral under Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 in relation to a Pay Claim.

BACKGROUND:

This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under

the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was

referred to the Labour Court on 13th August 2025 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial

Relations Act, 1990.

A Labour Court hearing took place on 25th September 2025.

RECOMMENDATION:

The dispute before the Court is a pay claim by SIPTU on behalf of 28 workers employed at the Ballitore plant, County Kildare.

The company is in operation since 2016 and provides packaging to a client based beside it at the same site. Pay agreements in the company have generally aligned to increases applied at the client site. The parties have failed to agree a successor agreement to a pay agreement that expired on 30 April 2025.

The union contends that its members have a very low base pay. There is an established practice of mirroring pay agreements at the client site and its members entered into negotiations in good faith with an expectation that any pay increase be aligned to that site.

The employer accepts that previous increases were aligned to the client site, however, it submits that given its current financial position it cannot award similar increases this year. To do so would put significant strain on the business, which required a significant cash injection in April 2025 from its parent company to cover overheads and costs, such as rent, local authority rates and pension scheme funding.  It is hopeful the position will improve towards the end of 2026.

The Court has considered carefully the written and oral submissions of the parties.

While local discussions, and those held under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, centred around a two-year pay agreement, both parties at the hearing sought that any recommendation from the Court apply for a twelve-month period.

Having regard to all of the circumstances, as outlined at the hearing, the Court recommends as follows: -

• A pay increase of 3.5% be applied effective from 1 May 2025 for a 12-month period.
• The parties engage with a view to introducing a company discount scheme.
• The current voucher payment be increased to a €100 voucher.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
FC	______________________
30 September 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Ms Fiona Corcoran, Court Secretary.