Labour Court urges renewed talks on Whitegate refinery workers’ transport service

The Labour Court urged Conoco Phillips, Whitegate Refinery Limited and Unite, the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union, and the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union to resume talks on subsidised transport for workers who used the service. The recommendation was signed on 7 August 2009. The company said up to 22 workers used the service, which cost €120,000 a year, and that it had spent €146,000 since the earlier recommendation. The unions argued the service was a condition of employment. The Court reiterated its earlier recommendation: renegotiate an efficient service for those who wished to use it, and limit any buyout to workers who had actually used the service.