Labour Court overturns 95% craft-rate recommendation on Sligo County Council appeal

The Labour Court overturned a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation that Sligo County Council pay three workers 95% of the craft rate. The Court upheld the Council’s appeal in a decision signed on 23 December 2008 and found the workers were not entitled to the differential. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued the workers performed skilled duties beyond those expected of general operatives. The Council said they already received the craftworkers’ mates rate, including a €31 weekly allowance. The Court noted that a 1997 agreement required general operatives and related grades to cooperate with the devolution of non-core craftwork, and found the claim was debarred as a cost increase under Towards 2016.