Labour Court refers Kerry landfill meal allowance claim to benchmarking process

The Labour Court recommended that Kerry County Council and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union follow the approach used in earlier meal allowance disputes: address the issue through the parallel benchmarking process, and refer it back to the Court if it remains unresolved. The recommendation was signed on 25 September 2003. The union sought a daily €14.34 meal allowance for eight workers at the council’s landfill site. The council rejected the claim. The union said the work was demanding and exposed to adverse weather, and that comparable refuse service workers received the allowance. The council argued that the workers were covered by a different national agreement and that a local claim could have wider cost effects.