The Labour Court increased a recommended payment to €10,000 for each of Four Workers in an appeal by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union against South Dublin County Council. The decision was signed on 27 May 2008. A Rights Commissioner had recommended €6,000 for each worker.
The dispute concerned an allowance previously paid to foremen and assistant foremen in the Council’s refuse section and later extended to its burial section. The union argued it should also apply to the workers because predecessors in similar roles received it. The Council said the allowance arose from a local arrangement and did not automatically continue after promotion. It also argued that the claim would increase each worker’s earnings by about €18,000 a year without a productivity return.