CRH dispute a key test for 48-hour week

In September 1998, as Irish employers and trade unions face up to conforming with the maximum 48-hour working week under 1997 legislation implementing the EU working time Directive, they are awaiting the outcome of a key dispute over compensation for reduced earnings in one of the country's largest companies, Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH).

A dispute involving two construction companies in the Roadstone Group- part of the larger Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH) - over the implementation of changes required by the Working Time Act 1997, is being monitored closely by Irish employers and trade unions. CRH is one of Ireland's largest employers, with over 11,000 workers. The dispute, which concerns compensation for reduced earnings, was the subject of a recommendation by the Labour Court on 22 July 1998 (the Court's recommendations carry moral authority but are non-binding).

Following rejection of the Labour Court's recommendation by the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) and a smaller affiliated craft trade union, 700 workers in the two companies concerned voted to take industrial action. That action, due to take place in mid-September 1998, was deferred, however, pending consideration of a set of options which were to be put forward by an agreed independent three-person team within one month.

The Working Time Act 1997, which came into effect in March 1998, seeks to implement the 1993 EU Directive on certain aspects of the organisation of working time (93/104/EC), which provides - among other rules - for a maximum 48-hour working week. In accordance with the Act, Roadstone sought to reach agreement with the unions to implement a two-year transitional arrangement regarding the number of hours to be worked in 1998 and 1999. Such proposed arrangements, provided for under the legislation, allow for a 60-hour weekly working hours limit in the first year and a 55-hour limit in the second year, with the 48-hour provision coming into effect thereafter.

The unions refused to sign the proposed agreement unless an arrangement was put in place to protect workers' future earnings. The average hours worked in the two companies concerned are in the region of 54-55 per week. The unions want a consolidation of current earnings levels, which would include a guaranteed 48-hour week based on 52.5 hours' pay. Overtime earnings above this level should also compensated for by making the 52.5-hour basis applicable for pensions, holidays and sick pay, they argue.

The Labour Court said that it had to take into account the objective of the Working Time Act. The Court noted that the Act's provisions are obligatory and that they were welcomed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). The Court said it could not, therefore, consider recommending concession of the unions' claim for protection of earnings, a claim "which is contrary to the spirit of the Act and is also a breach of clause 6 of Partnership 2000, Ireland's current three-year national agreement between the social partners (IE9702103F)".

The three-person committee charged with coming up with a solution to the dispute is now seeking a way to break the impasse. It is understood that the company is willing to concede once-off lump-sum payments in compensation, but the unions insist that any agreement must involve a consolidation of current earning levels.