Labour Court recommends compensation for Meath County Council yard workers

In 2009, the Labour Court recommended compensation for workers affected by the closure of Meath County Council’s machinery yard in Navan and the removal of six allowances. The recommendation was signed on 2 March 2009. The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union opposed the closure and sought compensation for lost earnings. The Council said lower demand for surface dressing, the cost of allowances and a reduced revenue budget made the yard unviable. It proposed removing allowances and redeploying staff. The Court recommended compensation equal to one and a half times the annual loss of travelling time, waiting and filling time, heating tar, Friday overtime, gate and early-morning allowances. It recommended payment in three equal instalments, conditional on accepting redeployment and remaining employed on the relevant dates. The first instalment would be paid when the worker started at the new location; the other two would follow at nine-month intervals.