THE LABOUR Court has backed the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) in a row over the introduction of new technology projects for air traffic controllers
The issue led to the dispute at Irish airports last week that that disrupted the travel plans of up to 20,000 passengers.
In a recommendation yesterday, the court found that the introduction of the new projects represented normal ongoing change.
The trade union Impact, which represents the air traffic controllers, had contended that the changes proposed by the IAA would involve its members taking on new duties and responsibilities and would represent a fundamental alteration to work practices.
The union maintained that it was a legitimate aspiration for air traffic controllers to be rewarded for changes that were in excess of normal ongoing change.
The IAA had argued it was seeking to introduce the four new technology projects in order to meet its customers’ needs and to maintain the highest standards of safety. It said that continuing investment in new technology was a feature of the industry worldwide.
Last week air traffic controllers staged industrial action in support of colleagues who had been suspended by the IAA for refusing to co- operate with the new technology projects.
The company said this lack of co-operation formed part of an overall campaign to secure a pay increase of 6 per cent and to avoid changes to existing pension arrangements. The union denied this claim and said that members were waiting for the court to adjudicate on the new technology issue.
A separate recommendation on pay and pensions is due shortly.
In its binding recommendation on the new technology projects, the court found that in the case of each of these, it seemed that the real benefit of the changes would accrue to the users of the service provided rather than to the authority itself.
“As the court has held on a number of occasions in the past, normal ongoing change should be understood as referring to situations in which new systems or methods are deployed to provide what remains essentially the same service under the same or similar conditions.
“It should be understood in contra-distinction to significant change, which occurs where workers are required to provide a substantially different service or to provide the same service under substantially different conditions.”
It said that it was self-evident that air traffic control services were delivered through advanced and sophisticated technologies and the IAA must be in a position to avail of new systems as they became available to keep abreast of developments internationally and at European level.
A spokesman for Impact said that the members would adhere to the recommendations of the Labour Court. The IAA said that it welcomed the court’s finding.