Labour Court says it lacks jurisdiction to investigate Bell Security dispute

The Labour Court said it lacked jurisdiction to investigate a pay and conditions dispute between Bell Security (Ireland) Ltd and the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union. Its determination was signed on 10 April 2008. The union said the company consulted staff but did not engage in collective bargaining, and that the engineers’ dispute remained unresolved. Bell Security said it negotiated with employee representatives and made concessions. The Court found the meetings were informal and management set their agendas. It also found that representatives felt they were carrying messages rather than negotiating. However, it concluded that the company’s practice of meeting employee representatives to seek agreement amounted to collective bargaining under the applicable legal test. The Court therefore could not investigate the substantive dispute; the merits were not decided.