IRISH Life sales staff, who went back to work in May after a bitter dispute with the company, are not entitled to social welfare benefits for their time on strike, the Social Welfare Tribunal has ruled.

In a strongly-worded statement, the tribunal said the company did everything that could be expected to resolve the dispute.

In its adjudication, which affects 292 people, the tribunal said it had considered all of the evidence and documentation, and accepted that Irish Life did not act unreasonably in proposing to introduce work changes, and in issuing notices of its intention to impose suspensions in the absence of co-operation.

"The tribunal is satisfied that the employer went to great lengths to negotiate over a very large number of meetings the introduction of the changes in question," said its chairman, Mr Joe Chadwick, in a statement.

The company went through all the machinery and procedures available for the resolution of industrial disputes, he added.

"Having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the tribunal considers that the company's actions in issuing letters of suspension on February 6th, 1997, were not unreasonable... the applicants are not entitled to receive unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance," the judgment concluded.

A spokesman for Irish Life said the company welcomed "the acknowledgment that it had acted properly at all times in the weeks preceding the dispute, and that our actions, which were the subject of some criticism, have been vindicated.

"However, the dispute is now over, and we are directing all our energies into getting the field force back performing at its best, and rebuilding relationships which obviously suffered somewhat during the dispute," he added.

There was no immediate comment from the main trade union involved in the dispute, MSF.