Union and FF man's firm in pension row

THE LABOUR Court yesterday adjourned a case involving a company controlled by builder and Fianna Fáil activist, Jerry Beades, and a craft union.

The court began hearing a dispute between Mr Beades’s company, Mendit Construction, and the Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) over pension payments.

As part of the registered employment agreement, which governs pay and conditions in the construction sector, employers have to deduct pension contributions from building workers and pay them into an industry-wide pension scheme.

The private hearing lasted for several hours before being adjourned for a month.

UCATT claims Mendit Construction has not made all the required payments to the pension fund. It is understood that it believes the figure due is about €8,000.

However, Mendit Construction is disputing this and maintains that it is due a refund of about €50,000. The company says that contributions were made to the scheme in respect of staff who were not covered by the registered employment agreement, and would thus not benefit from the industry pension fund.

It is understood Mr Beades also had concerns relating to the Labour Court process itself.

Mendit is one of a number of companies in Mr Beades’s group, which specialises mainly in flooring. He is a member of the board of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and a well-known Fianna Fáil activist.

UCATT has about 15,000 members in Ireland. It was traditionally associated with carpenters but it represents a range of tradesmen, technicians and skilled workers.

The Labour Court is part of the Republic’s industrial relations machinery and issues recommendations rather than verdicts. Its recommendations are not binding in the same way as orders made by conventional courts.

The construction industry pension fund’s trustees are drawn from the unions and the CIF.