Labour Court backs B. McDonnell’s reading of 1977 agreement in union dispute

The Labour Court concluded that B. McDonnell Limited’s interpretation of its 1977 agreement with the National Union Of Sheet Metal Workers Of Ireland was correct and did not recommend conceding the union’s claim. The dispute concerned whether skilled workers should be protected from redundancy until semi-skilled workers had been made redundant. The Court said the agreement’s protection was unlikely to extend beyond the skilled workforce employed when it was made.