Labour Court declines union claim for footwear for Eastern Health Board staff

In 1997, the Labour Court declined to recommend that the Eastern Health Board provide protective footwear to Attendants and Household grades across the organisation. The recommendation was dated 23 December 1997. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union argued that non-nursing staff should receive footwear where some Board hospitals already supplied it. Management said footwear was needed for safety in main kitchen hospitals but not ward kitchens, and estimated the claim would cost £145,000 a year. The Court took the financial implications into account.