Labour Court disallows union appeal over forklift drivers’ roster claim

The Labour Court disallowed the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s appeal and affirmed the Rights Commissioner’s recommendation that the claim fail. The decision involving Adm Ringaskiddy was dated 7 December 1999. The union said two forklift drivers lost overtime opportunities and faced higher holiday costs after moving to a seven-day roster with 12-hour shifts. The company argued that a 20% shift premium compensated for Sunday work and that the drivers had suffered no loss of earnings. The union cited payments of £4,000 made to other employees who moved from day work to shifts. The company said those employees had received the payments after their premium fell from 25% to 20%.