Labour Court recommends annualised-hours talks at Irish Sugar’s Mallow plant

The Labour Court recommended that Irish Sugar PLC and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union negotiate the introduction of annualised hours at the Mallow plant. The recommendation was signed on 1 October 1996. The union had sought lump-sum payments of £3,500 per worker, citing agreed redundancies and changes in work practices. Management rejected the claim and said it had honoured its commitments while seeking agreement on annualised hours. The Court considered negotiations on annualised hours the most appropriate way to address the claim and recommended that any agreement be reviewed in light of national negotiations.