June 11th, 2010 High Court upholds right of TEEU members to picket at Ballymun lift facility and awards costs to union against Dublin City Council The High Court upholds right of TEEU members to picket at Ballymun lift facility and awards costs to union against Dublin City Council Costs were awarded to the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union today against Dublin City Council, following on from a ruling on Wednesday that members of the Union are entitled to maintain their picket at the Ballymun lift facility, where they have been in dispute with Pickerings Lifts since February 4th over redundancies. It establishes an important legal precedent for workers involved in similar redundancy situations where an employer abandons a contract in the middle of an industrial dispute. Dublin City Council injuncted the union in April after allowing Pickerings to walk away from their Ballymun lifts maintenance contract rather than resolve a dispute with employees. The City Council then awarded the maintenance contract for lifts in the high rise flats to another company, Dimension Elevators. The reality is that no other lift contractor is going to operate in the Ballymun premises while the TEEU picket is in place and Ms Justice Mary Laffoy acknowledged this in her Judgment. She said that, ”the situation which prevails has given rise to a serious dilemma for both the Union and the plaintiff and, as outlined in my judgment on the interlocutory application, it has arisen from Pickerings failure to engage in the statutory industrial dispute resolution processes.” Ms Justice Mary Laffoy found on Wednesday that the defendants had a right to picket outside the premises under section 11(1) and section 13 of the 1990 Industrial Relations Act. These sections of the Act allow members of a trade union to picket the approaches to the place of business where they were employed in pursuit of a legitimate industrial dispute. Welcoming the outcome, TEEU General Secretary Eamon Devoy said, “The High Court decision follows a ruling by the Labour Court in April under Section 20(1) of the 1969 Industrial Relations Act that Pickerings should carry out any redundancies in line with the clear and long established procedures it has laid down for the industry. After five months I think it is time that Pickerings Lifts agreed to abide by that Labour Court recommendation and stopped hiding behind Dublin City Council . “It is also time for Dublin City Council to explain its own role in this dispute. So far all it has achieved is delays in resolving a dispute that is inflicting hardship on its own tenants. If it wanted to sue anyone, why did it not sue Pickerings for breach of contract, instead of the TEEU? All our members have done is pursue a legitimate labour dispute in defence of their jobs and a reasonable redundancy package in line with the Labour Court recommendation for those being let go. “By allowing Pickerings to walk away from its obligations, the City Council has lost all leverage over the company and abandoned its own tenants, not to mention leaving the taxpayer and ratepayer considerably out of pocket. Our members have offered to provide emergency cover in Ballymun, but the City Council decided to call in the Army. “With the best will in the world, the Army is not able to cope. Hopefully Councillors will demand that their own managers now explain themselves and help us end this five month long dispute.”