Labour Court recommends €12,700 each for two Independent Newspapers workers

The Labour Court recommended that Independent Newspapers pay €12,700 to each of two workers represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union after a dispute over transfer payments to Citywest. The recommendation was dated 12 August 2004. An agreement for production staff transferring to Citywest provided lump-sum payments of £30,000 each. The union said the two workers had been assured that later transferees would receive no compensation. The company said transport staff were outside the original agreement and the workers had accepted their terms. The Court found the original agreement did not cover the workers, but said the parties had been at cross purposes over the assurances given. It recommended an ex-gratia payment of €12,700 to each worker, on the understanding that the recommendation would not support similar claims by others.