Labour Court finds it has jurisdiction in Scruttons NI dispute

The Labour Court determined on 6 January 2020 that it had jurisdiction to investigate a collective dispute between Scruttons Ni Ltd and General Operatives, represented by the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union. The dispute concerns the terms and conditions of members’ employment. Scruttons Ni Ltd argued that employee committees conducted collective bargaining, that the union frustrated the WRC process and that internal procedures had not been used. The union disputed that the committees represented employees or negotiated on their behalf. The Court found the employer had not established that the committees were an excepted body, and that the individual grievance procedure could not resolve a collective dispute. It will arrange a hearing on the substantive issues.