Labour Court defers final pay phase at Klopman

In 1996, the Labour Court recommended deferring the third and final phase of a pay increase at Klopman International Limited, after the company said it could not afford the payment. The recommendation was signed on 28 August 1996. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued that workers had cooperated with restructuring and that there was no justification for withholding the increase. Klopman forecast an operating loss of £1.8 million for the financial year ended 29 June 1996 and projected accumulated losses of £8.6 million from 1991 to 1997. The union said the workforce at the Tralee plant had already been reduced by nearly 40% while workers cooperated with changes. The Court recommended reviewing the deferral after three months. If Klopman was forced to close in the meantime, it recommended paying all money due under the phase.