In 1990, the Labour Court recommended that workers at Irish Rail’s Shelton Abbey depot accept the company’s rationalisation proposals. The recommendation was signed on 11 December 1990. Irish Rail proposed revised rosters and combined duties, with one depotperson moving to a vacant signalman position in Wicklow and another regraded. C.I.E. Trade Union Groups opposed the changes, citing the lack of agreement to combine the grades and possible effects elsewhere. The Court recognised both the company’s need to rationalise and the problems its proposals presented to the unions, and recommended that the workers accept the proposals.