Labour Court urges Irish Times and union to maintain membership agreement

In 1997, the Labour Court recommended that Irish Times Limited and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union strive to maintain their agreement on union membership for clerical staff. The recommendation was signed on 17 December 1997. The dispute concerned two secretaries to senior executives who had left the union. The union said they had been coerced and that the company had breached the agreement; the company said they had left voluntarily and it could not compel union membership. The Court said the agreement’s terms were clear and recommended that both parties work to maintain them.