THE Labour Court is expected to intervene in the seven week strike at the Royal Dublin Hotel. Day long talks at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday failed to achieve a breakthrough in the dispute, although it is understood that progress was made in a number of areas.
One of the issues to be referred to the court is understood to include the suspension of a number of the strikers during the dispute. The other is the question of whether pay at the hotel is significantly out of line with similar establishments in the capital.
Another key issue - the payment of the 3 per cent due under the local bargaining clause of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress - has been largely resolved. Management has already conceded it to non striking staff, who are continuing to pass the pickets.
However, the company will not concede the SIPTU claim that wage rates in the hotel are more than £2 an hour less than in comparable establishments, although it is willing to refer the issue to the Labour Court. SIPTU says that the Royal Dublin should pay the same rates as five star hotels in the capital, while the company says it is only a three star hotel.
Even more intractable seems to be the problem of suspensions. At least four strikers have been suspended because of alleged incidents during the strike. The company says it will not reinstate them, while the union says that members will not return to work without their colleagues.
The Labour Court is expected to examine the pay and suspensions issues within the next week.