THE long running dispute between Irish Life and its sales staff has worsened. Last night, the 320 employees, who have been suspended since early February, overwhelmingly rejected the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) proposals to resolve the dispute.

Sales staff voted three to one against the proposals after a lengthy meeting in Portlaoise, with employees now expected to return to the picket line today. A spokesman for Irish Life expressed disbelief with the outcome of the ballot, saying the result was "grossly irresponsible". The staff in dispute with the company appeared to be bent on confrontation for the sake of it", he said.

The proposals were issued to MSF, the union representing the sales staff, over two weeks ago. It subsequently sought clarification on aspects of them from LRC officer, Mr John Agnew. His proposals, which, according to the company, would cost £2 million to implement were accepted by Irish Life.

In his nine p.age document, Mr Agnew confirmed Labour Court recommendations on changes in work practices, while making a number of new recommendations and increasing compensation in some areas.

He recommended a minimum payment of £1,000 be set for staff who chose to concentrate on home service sales and the removal of a link between sales and performance and compensation payments, New elements included in his document were the introduction of a voluntary retirement scheme for staff over 52 years of age, a joint review of security issues and the refund to staff of money spent on second hand computers.

He also provided a further incentive to end the dispute, recommending payments of more than £200 plus 10 per cent of outstanding customer payments to staff to collect the monies owing over the period of the dispute. The average payment would be about £600 per person. In addition, he recommended a £800 interest free loan repayable over two years in recognition of the hardship of staff losing their salary while in dispute.

The 320 staff were suspended without pay but are receiving £30 a week from MSF. Some will also be entitled to apply for supplementary social welfare. MSF has set up a hardship fund for the sales force which should provide further resources for the suspended staff.