Labour Court recommends union accept Eircom offer on subsistence arrears

The Labour Court recommended that the Communication Workers’ Union accept Eircom’s offer of a partial payment towards subsistence arrears for former Eircell employees transferred to Vodafone. The recommendation was dated 4 July 2005. The dispute concerned arrears for 1 January 2000 to 13 May 2001. The union said Eircom was liable for the period when the workers were its employees; Eircom relied on its de-merger agreement with Vodafone. The Court said it could not interpret the agreement legally, but concurred with Eircom’s view that Vodafone was liable under its terms. It recommended that the union accept Eircom’s partial payment offer and that the parties meet to finalise it.