The Labour Court recently issued orders totalling £8,500 against three Munster builders for not paying their employers' share of contributory pensions for manual worker employees.
Such payments are part of a statutorily binding, registered agreement with 4,500 building firms, employing about 200,000 manual workers. The scheme is administered primarily by the Construction Federation Operatives' Pension Scheme.
Under the agreement, a specific level of pension, sick pay and death-in-service benefit is provided for all manual workers in the industry who are directly employed by the registered builders, most of which are not members of the employer body, the Construction Industry Federation.
The orders, signed by Labour Court registrar Mr Hugh O'Neill, say the CIF "has complained" to the court that an employer "has failed to comply with" the agreement and that "the complaint is well founded".
In fact the complainant is not the CIF, but the trustees of the pension scheme, which is quite separate from the federation, its administrator, Mr Pat Ferguson, said. The pension scheme has five trustees from the CIF and five from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Of the three firms to receive the Labour Court orders, one, from Douglas, Co Cork paid the £4,413 due under the agreement earlier this week. A second Cork firm, from Monkstown, owing £2,632, undertook to pay as soon as possible. The third firm, based in Kilrush, Co Clare, which owes around £1,400, had still to respond, Mr Ferguson confirmed.
Builders who ignore the demand are liable to action in the civil courts and may be fined up to £1,500 for failure to comply with the Labour Court order.