The Labour Court has called Aer Lingus management and cabin crew representatives to talks tomorrow on the pay dispute that grounded the airline's services today. The breakthrough follows a meeting between representatives of the national implementation body of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and leaders of IMPACT, which represents most of the cabin crew. The implementation body has also requested IBEC and ICTU to help the talks and has asked all the parties to refrain from public comment while efforts continue to resolve the dispute. A further one-day stoppage is threatened for next week in the absence of a resolution.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus flights are to return to normal from midnight following today's one day strike by the company's 1,400 cabin crew. More than 16,000 passengers have been affected by the strike by the cabin crew. Virtually the entire Aer Lingus fleet has been grounded and pickets have been placed at the entrances to Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
Aer Lingus cabin crew this morning placed pickets at the entrances to Dublin Airport. The IMPACT trade union, representing the cabin staff, says that the pickets are not intended to be disruptive, and are not preventing passengers or workers from entering the airport. Also, about 60 IMPACT cabin crew staff mounted a picket at Shannon Airport in their dispute with the company over pay and conditions. The staff at Shannon say they want a shorter period of time before they reach the top of their pay scale. They are also striving to prevent a two-tier pay structure, which they say would split the staff and see colleagues working alongside each other on different pay scales.
Around 50 cabin crew staff maintained a picket outside Cork Airport from 7am until midday. A spokesperson for the 143 IMPACT cabin crew at Cork said that because Aer Lingus had cancelled all scheduled flights at the airport today, they saw no merit in continuing with their action. Over 30 flights have been cancelled at Cork airport today. The Cork-Dublin route was the main service disrupted by today's action. A spokesperson for the airport said that about 2,000 passengers were affected. He said that the majority of intending passengers had made alternative arrangements and there was minimal disruption at the airport this morning.
The crews are planning another strike on Friday week. They also say that two further days of stoppages will be announced for the following week unless a settlement is reached on their pay dispute. A similar strike grounded the Aer Lingus fleet for a day last October. The airline has described the action as totally unwarranted.
Meanwhile, the ATGWU, which represents the striking British Midland's ground handling staff is attempting to escalate its action and has applied to the Congress of Trade Unions for all out pickets on Dublin Airport.
