Labour Court backs half-hour’s pay for Irish Rail workers after match dispute

The Labour Court decided that Irish Rail workers should receive the half-hour’s pay withheld after a dispute over making up time to watch an Ireland-England match. The decision, signed on 29 August 1991, followed Irish Rail’s appeal against a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation to pay the workers. The Body Maintenance Shop workers had the afternoon of 14 November 1990 off and were to make up the time by working half-hours during lunch breaks. Management deducted half an hour’s pay after the works manager thought workers were not making up the time; he later accepted that all but three had been working. Irish Rail argued the deductions were justified, while the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union and the Amalgamated Engineering Union said management should have used the disciplinary procedure. The Court criticised both the manager’s response and the workers’ refusal to explain their position, but concluded that paying the half-hour better served longer-term considerations.