Labour Court recommends Willow Herb concede union pay claim

The Labour Court recommended that Willow Herb concede the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claim for full implementation of the Sustaining Progress agreement. The recommendation was dated 9 February 2005. The dispute concerned five workers at the company’s mink farm. The union said increases of 8.5% had fallen due from March 2003 and that the company had offered 1.5% from December 2003, on condition that it be paid monthly. Willow Herb said a fall in the US dollar had reduced profits and that it was rebuilding its farm to address water pollution risks. The Court said Willow Herb had supplied no financial information to support its claim that it could not afford the increases. It recommended that the union’s claim be conceded.