Minister Kelleher welcomes timely initiatives by Social Partners to tackle current competitiveness challenges in the hospitality sector

The Minister for Labour Affairs, Billy Kelleher TD, today (Wednesday 3 rd December, 2008) welcomed the agreement by employer and trade union representatives on the two catering sector Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) to convene a meeting on Friday 5^th December to consider arrangements for the establishment of a single committee for the sector and to review the terms and conditions that feature in the Employment Regulations Orders (ERO’s) covering the sector, including the issue of the premium paid for Sunday work.

The Minister also welcomed a separate development relating to the hotels sector, where a proposal has been agreed to establish a forum consisting of IBEC and the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) on behalf of employers in the industry (who engage in collective bargaining) and SIPTU to contribute to the development of a sustainable industry providing high quality employment.

The Minister said: “I warmly welcome the initiative of the Social Partners in this area and I hope that constructive dialogue will result in practical measures to help address the severe challenges facing those working in the hospitality sector. In my recent contacts with the Social Partners, I have taken the opportunity to highlight concerns which had been raised regarding the continued viability of services provided by hotels and catering establishments and the sustainability of employment in many areas. These initiatives demonstrate the responsiveness of both employers and the trade unions to these issues and they provide a welcome opportunity to promote a shared understanding of current problems in the spirit of the principles underpinning the recently ratified Towards 2016 Transitional Agreement".

The Minister noted that these initiatives complement the efforts being made by the Labour Court to give effect to commitments in the social partnership agreement Towards 2016 regarding the modernisation of the JLC system. On foot of these efforts, the Labour Court had already received the agreement in principle of the two existing JLCs for the catering sector to effect an amalgamation of these bodies.

While it is understood that the proposed hotel industry forum will operate for two years up to the end of 2010 and have regard to a wide range of employment and industrial relations issues arising from the current challenges facing the hotels sector, priority attention is to be given to the current difficulties cited by employers in the sector as a result of the operation of the JLC system (with particular reference to ‘Sunday Premium’).

Minimum rates of pay and other conditions of employment for workers in certain sectors, including the hotels and catering sectors, are set down in Employment Regulation Orders (ERO’s) made by the Labour Court. These orders are determined on the basis of proposals negotiated and drawn up by the relevant Joint Labour Committees (JLCs). The JLCs are independent bodies and are composed of equal numbers of representatives of employers and workers in a particular sector with an independent Chairman. The JLCs covering the Catering and Hotels sectors have, over the years, agreed terms and conditions that include the payment of premia for Sunday work to the workers covered by their respective remits.