Labour Court recommends talks on Allied Foods warehouse terms by 31 May

The Labour Court recommended that Allied Foods and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union negotiate changes to warehouse workers' terms and conditions by 31 May 2005, with unresolved issues potentially referred back to the Court. It recommended deferring gainsharing discussions until the terms changes were agreed and implemented, followed by a final effort to agree the scheme's basic parameters. The dispute concerned proposed changes to terms and conditions and the union's claim for a gainsharing scheme. The company proposed, among other changes, cutting the evening-shift premium from 25% to 18%. The union said the company had not exhausted conciliation procedures and sought a gainsharing scheme, including retrospective application to 2001. The Labour Court signed its recommendation on 14 April 2005.