Labour Court recommends talks on service pay and bonus at Linde Material Handling

The Labour Court recommended that Linde Material Handling (Ireland) Ltd and the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union hold simultaneous talks on restoring service pay and the Christmas bonus, and on the union’s pay claim and the company’s proposed changes to their 1984 agreement. The recommendation, signed on 25 August 2015, followed a dispute over payments that the union said the company had removed without consultation. Linde Material Handling said the 2008 downturn led to cost savings and that it wanted to discuss the payments alongside a new pay proposal. The Court said agreements should be honoured, while parties should be willing to adapt them as business and economic circumstances change. It asked the union to engage with the company on both strands, with a view to completing discussions before mid-November 2015. Any outstanding issues could be referred back to the Court for a definitive recommendation.