Two unions, SIPTU and the NUJ, described the Labour Court recommendation as a "damning report" on the ASTI's behaviour as an employer.
"The recommendation clearly has serious consequences for the running of the ASTI and the welfare of its staff," said SIPTU official, Ms Patricia King yesterday.
The Labour Court found that ASTI employees are entitled to:
Proper industrial relations, to have mechanisms and procedures in place and to have these honoured.
They are entitled to clear and unambiguous levels of responsibility, clarification as to who is their manager, who they should report to, and who makes decisions on behalf of the organisation.
They are entitled to expect that if they negotiate with management personnel that they are dealing with personnel who have the authority to negotiate.
They are entitled to protection by the employer against false accusations or attacks from members if they are not justified.
They are entitled to operate in a workplace where they can get on with their job without the constant fear or threat from elected individuals who would appear to have no direct line of responsibility.
On the finding , Ms King said : "It exonerates everything which SIPTU and the NUJ have been highlighting to the ASTI management over many months and says that "proper attention to the welfare of employees at ASTI's head office has not been in operation for some time. The recommendation also states, that 'the staff have a right to a workplace free from constant threat and fear from elected ASTI representatives who appear to have no direct line of responsibility'." It also points out that ASTI staff have a right to proper industrial relations procedures and the right to negotiate with management in good faith.
Ms King said: "It is extraordinary that the Labour Court would have to highlight these basic points to an employer which is itself a trade union. We were shocked at the unprecedented decision by the ASTI as a trade union employer not to attend the Labour Relations Commission or the Labour Court hearing.
"In this regard, we are pleased that the court said it saw no basis on which it could decline to investigate the dispute."
SIPTU and the NUJ said they welcomed how the court had instructed ASTI to "get its house in order". "It is in the interest of the ASTI's 17,000 members that staff be allowed to carry out their duties in a suitable atmosphere," said Ms King.
