Labour Court declines union claim for 46p hourly increase at Gypsum Industries mine

The Labour Court did not recommend increasing the composite hourly rate for a worker at Gypsum Industries’ Knocknacran mine by 46 pence. The recommendation was dated 11 December 2001. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union said annualised hours had reduced the worker’s basic hourly rate and sought an increase. The company argued that the claim compared different pay systems and overlooked improvements to bonus, reserve-hour and service-pay arrangements. The Court found the parties had agreed a standard method for selecting the basic rate used to calculate composite rates. It therefore did not recommend changing the rate to reflect the worker’s previous basic pay.