The Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association (ILDA) yesterday lost its Supreme Court appeal against a High Court decision that Iarnrod Eireann is not obliged to negotiate with it.
The High Court had also turned down a claim by the company against ILDA for damages arising from disputes in Athlone and Cork in July 1999 which resulted in the cancellation of several rail services.
Iarnrod Eireann had argued it was required as a matter of law to negotiate and conclude agreements with trade unions recognised by the company and holding negotiating licences. It said the ILDA did not have a negotiating licence.
The proceedings od Eireann were taken by 11 individual members of the ILDA who form its national executive.
Giving the unanimous Supreme Court judgment, Mr Justice Fennelly said it was the precise legal character of the ILDA which was the principal bone of contention.
The ILDA defendants had claimed that Iarnrod Eireann, under the terms of the Railways Act 1924, was bound to regulate conditions of service with trade unions representative of railway employees, which included ILDA.
Their Supreme Court appeal took issue with the High Court's interpretation of sections of the 1924 Act and the Trade Union Act 1941.
The High Court had declared that the ILDA, not having a negotiating licence and not being an excepted body within the meaning of Section 2 of the Trade Union Act, was not a representative union and could not lawfully conduct negotiations on the conditions of service of Iarnrod Eireann locomotive drivers.
Mr Justice Fennelly also noted that, in this case, Iarnrod Eireann had expressly refused to negotiate with ILDA. Since ILDA was not an "excepted body" under the Trade Union Acts, Iarnrod Eireann was within its rights to refuse.