Labour Court rejects union claims for severance and compulsory redundancy at Coca Cola Bottlers Ireland

The Labour Court did not recommend conceding the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claims for a voluntary redundancy programme for workers unable to move to Ballycoolin and compulsory redundancy for three workers. The recommendation was signed on 3 November 2008. Coca Cola Bottlers Ireland planned to move staff from Naas Road to Huntstown Business Park in Ballycoolin. The union sought severance for workers facing longer commutes and said the three office workers’ jobs had fundamentally changed. The company said relocation did not justify redundancy. The Court said it saw no basis for a voluntary redundancy programme, noting the number likely to take it up and the lack of savings for the company. It was not satisfied that the three workers’ circumstances amounted to redundancy.