Labour Court rejects pilot-boat crew’s pay claim at Shannon Foynes Port Company

The Labour Court did not recommend conceding the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union’s claim for significant pay increases for the pilot-boat crew at Shannon Foynes Port Company. The recommendation was signed on 2 December 2008. The union said the crew worked year-round in severe weather and had more duties than workers at other ports. Shannon Foynes Port Company argued the claim was barred by Towards 2016 and that reduced revenue made higher costs damaging to its competitiveness. The Court considered a 2004 agreement linking earlier pay increases to cooperation with increased port traffic and no further pay claims. It said that commitment was unlikely to have been intended to expire after two years, and noted that traffic had fallen since Sustaining Progress ended. It saw no merit in a productivity-based increase and did not recommend conceding the claim.