Labour Court recommends Bulmers workers move to three-cycle shifts

The Labour Court recommended that workers on Line 1 at Bulmers Limited cooperate with a move from two-cycle to three-cycle shifts after the required notice period. The recommendation was signed on 9 January 2007. The dispute concerned 12 of the 39 Line 1 workers who refused the change. Bulmers relied on agreements dating from 1993 and 1999 and said increased production made three-cycle shifts necessary. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union argued that the 1999 agreement meant early and late shifts should continue to alternate as before. The Court considered the agreements provided for three-shift working according to operational needs. It recommended that a €2,000-per-person offer made earlier by the Industrial Relations Officer remain available in return for cooperation, and saw no grounds to increase it.