Recommendation could have serious implications for Cliffs centre

A LABOUR Court recommendation could have serious “financial implications” for the future of the Cliffs of Moher Centre, one of its Directors told The Clare Champion this week.

It follows a dispute between management and staff at the centre surrounding a claim by SIPTU for parity of pay and conditions between its members working at the centre and local authority employees.
Earlier this month, the Labour Court recommended that SIPTU and the Cliffs of Moher Centre Limited start discussions with a view to agreeing the implementation of rates of pay, sick pay and premium pay for staff at the centre comparable to those for staff in the local authority.
According to the Labour Court, this should be finished by July 1, the date the new rates, if agreed, would come into effect.
SIPTU representative Tony Kenny welcomed the recommendation. “I would expect that the Cliffs of Moher will implement the Labour Court’s recommendation with immediate effect. It vindicates the position taken by SIPTU and its members over the last few years,” Mr Kenny stated.
However Ger Dollard, a director of Cliffs of Moher Centre Ltd, said he believes the recommendation could cost as much as €400,000 per year to implement. 
“The Labour Court recommendation has very serious financial implications and the company now needs to consider its approach in dealing with the recommendations. The centre opened in 2006 and while that was a good year, it lost money in 2008 and 2009 and this year looks to be worse because of issues surrounding volcanic ash. We always aim to operate a tourism product and we have benchmarked ourselves with other tourist operators in terms in terms of staff pay and conditions,” Mr Dollard said.
“We have to look at the full implications of the recommendation. They are very significant. Even by the Union’s own submission, they could be in of the order of €400,000 per year. We have to see how we move from here. The Labour Court recommendations are not binding but we do have to take it seriously,” he continued.
“This is a significant decision with serious financial implications for how the centre might be operated,” he concluded.
The Cliffs of Moher Centre Limited employs 25 people with more employed during the peak times on part-time or temporary contracts.  If SIPTU and the company cannot reach agreement before July 1, they can jointly refer the matter back to the court for further consideration.