Labour Court recommends Bulmers workers accept four-cycle shift proposals

The Labour Court recommended that workers at Bulmers Ltd accept the final proposals for four-cycle shift working, finding that a 1999 agreement allowed the company to introduce the shifts. The recommendation was signed on 5 June 2007. Bulmers, which employed more than 650 workers at its Clonmel plant, said the shift pattern was needed to maintain supply. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union argued that workers would lose earnings and overtime, and sought a productivity or incentive bonus. The Court said the terms agreed at conciliation were generous and could not reasonably be improved.