THE Labour Relations Commission has put forward a proposal to both sides in the Irish Life dispute in an effort to break what has emerged as a very serious impasse.
The proposal is now being considered by Irish Life management and the union representing the majority of the sales force. If accepted by both sides, it is expected the proposal will be put to that part of the sales force known as personal finance advisers (PFAs) on Monday.
It follows more than 24 hours of talks at the LRC in the past two days. Neither side would reveal details of the proposal, put forward by LRC industrial relations officer, Mr John Agnew, last night. They said the commission had asked them not to discuss it.
The proposal, which the LRC is calling an "initiative", deals with the question of dismissals of 32 Irish Life staff, which are pending on Friday, as well as broader issues which both sides have been discussing over the past number of days. It also proposes a formula to try to advance talks on these issues.
Irish Life said last night it was giving "active consideration" to the LRC proposal and would indicate its response to the LRC this morning.
Yesterday's talks, which broke up after nearly 12 hours, were aimed at finding some way to break the deadlock in the row over the introduction of new work practices. The talks were described as long and very difficult, but with both sides trying to find some way of overcoming the impasse.
Irish Life had initiated disciplinary hearings following the breakdown of talks last week. The 32 staff face dismissal after refusing to work to the new structures.
PEAs have said they are very annoyed at the way the company has handled the issue to date. One source said the company had imposed a deadline of July 15th for a resolution of negotiations on the new structures.
If this deadline had been removed, the PFAs would have been involved in four weeks off meaningful negotiations instead of what he called "this sideshow".
The source added that the company had still not even put down on paper what the PFAs relationship with their managers would be under the new system.
This is a key issue with the PFAs, who are worried that the traditional support offered by their managers under the old system will be severely diluted under the new structures.
Last night's talks had been the latest in a series of attempts to break the deadlock. Talks resumed this week after a day long meeting broke up last Friday.
Irish Life chief executive for Ireland and the UK, Ms Jean Wood said the company had let the deadline for agreement "slip" four times. Other companies were vying for Irish Life's business and the changes had to be introduced swiftly. "We cannot put the clock back," she said.
The old management structures did not exist and the company could not tolerate a situation whereby people were being paid to do a job, but were not doing that job.
