Labour Court recommends 3% pay rise at Antigen and calls for rationalisation talks

In 1993, the Labour Court recommended that Antigen pay a 3% increase on basic pay from 1 July, while deferring payment of the increase for January to June until the company returned to profitability. The Service Industrial Professional Technical Union had sought the second phase of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress before talks on Antigen’s rationalisation plan, which involved changes to work practices and 15 redundancies. The company said trading conditions and losses made immediate payment unaffordable. The Court urged the union to begin immediate negotiations on the rationalisation programme. If redundancies were necessary, their calculation should include the 3% increase. It did not recommend pursuing the union’s claim under Clause 3 at that time. The recommendation was dated 4 March 1993.