The Labour Court has recommended that Tara Mines and 500 Workers represented by SIPTU, Unite and Connect take four disputes through conciliation and agreed procedures. The recommendation was dated 2 January 2024 and concerns the mine’s reopening, voluntary redundancy terms, temporary and fixed-term contracts, and retrospective payments for shop stewards attending meetings.
The Court said it was not realistic to recommend a reopening date or future redundancy terms without fuller engagement. It recommended that the parties discuss reopening and redundancy at Workplace Relations Commission conciliation. Any unresolved redundancy issue could then be referred to the Court under the Industrial Relations Act 1990.
On shop steward payments, the Court noted that the parties had an agreement and recommended that specific alleged underpayments be raised with the company through normal procedures. The contracts issue involved five fixed-term workers and two apprentices whose employment ended during care and maintenance. The Court recommended that the employer engage with claims raised by the unions through agreed procedures, and called for constructive engagement across the disputes.