Labour Court finds Capital Bars unable to pay Sustaining Progress increases

In 2005, the Labour Court decided that Capital Bars PLC had demonstrated it could not pay the first three phases of Sustaining Progress I in a dispute with Mandate. The dispute concerned 15 employees in bar, kitchen and cleaning jobs at one outlet in the Dublin city-centre group. The union said workers had missed pay phases of 3%, 2% and 2%. The company cited financial and trading pressures, and an independent assessor found valid grounds for its inability-to-pay claim. The Court considered both sides' submissions, the financial information and the assessor's report, and was satisfied that the company could not pay the three phases. The decision was signed by Caroline Jenkinson on 1 April 2005.