This article is from page 12 of the 2013-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE long-running industrial dispute at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Centre came to an end last Thursday when the Cliffs of Moher Limited announced it had come to an agreement with its SIPTU employees.
The agreement brings to an end more than five years of unrest at the North Clare tourist attraction, which has seen strike action being taken on two occasions, including in 2011 when a visit to the Cliffs by Ireland soccer manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, was cancelled because of a picket on the site.
The dispute centred on the terms and conditions of the SIPTU employees on the site, who have been seeking to have their terms of employment made equal to local authority workers.
The Cliffs of Moher is an independent limited company, owned by Clare County Council.
“This positive development now allows the company and its employees to fully focus our combined efforts on delivering a world-class visitor experience in what is a very important year for tourism,” said Katherine Webster, General Manager at the Cliffs of Moher Centre.
“I am particularly pleased that the proposals now being implemented allow us to retain our full staff complement which, at the peak season in 2012, stood at 56 employees.”
Director of Services at Clare County Council and Director of Cliffs of Moher Centre Ltd, Ger Dollard said he was delighted that the situation had been resolved.
“Our most recent conciliation conference in December 2012, which was facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission, ended without a resolution despite a fair and constructive formal offer being made to SIPTU on behalf of its members. The union negotiators rejected this offer,” he said.
“The company in mid-January advised the Labour Court that it proposed, in any event, to proceed with the implementation of the offer from Friday, February 1.
“The company received notification from SIPTU that the offer had now been accepted by the members. The company is delighted that the arrangements now being implemented take account of the financial circumstances of the business as verified by independent financial consultants appointed under the auspices of the Labour Court,” he added.