Labour Court declines to recommend Grade 2 pay for Mater Hospital nurse tutors

The Labour Court declined to recommend a union claim to move Mater Hospital nurse tutors in the Student Nurse Diploma Programme from Grade 3 to Grade 2. The recommendation was dated 16 February 1999. The Irish Nurses Organisation said the tutors had taken on greater responsibilities and should receive the same pay progression as colleagues at other hospitals. Management said the “Blue Book” superseded earlier agreements and that no additional funds were available for further special pay increases. The Court found that tutors already receiving a special allowance before the 1997 negotiations received credit for it when moved to new scales; the Mater tutors had not received that allowance. It said all nurse tutors were on the same pay-scale structure after the 1997 agreement, though their assimilation differed, and declined retrospective credit because the Mater tutors joined the project after the agreement.