Aer Lingus talks continue in bid to avert strike action

Talks between management at Aer Lingus and the trade union Siptu were continuing last night in a bid to avert industrial action from next week which could affect up to 20,000 passengers daily. Martin Wall , Industry Correspondent, reports.

Management said that the talks represented the final opportunity to resolve differences over the introduction of work practice reforms as part of an overall €20 million cost-saving programme.

Management invited Siptu to attend the last-ditch talks late on Thursday night, just hours after the union warned that the company faced a full-blown dispute from early next week if it unilaterally implemented the work practice changes. The union has warned that any dispute would be "long and bitter".

Aer Lingus management has warned about 1,800 Siptu members, who are mainly ground operations staff, that they would be suspended from Monday unless they co-operated "unreservedly" with the changes.

The airline is seeking to introduce new rosters with shifts of varying lengths, earlier starting times and the freedom to move staff between duties - for example from check-in to boarding - in the course of the shift.

The airline has said that once the reforms were introduced it would pay outstanding increases due under the national agreement. Siptu has accused the company of rewriting aspects of a deal put together in a process involving the Labour Relations Commission and the National Implementation Body in December. Management rejects this claim.

Union sources said that recent management figures had indicated that staff could lose out in pay as a result of changes in shift allowances. There were also concerns about the "excessive" nature of some of the work practice changes, including 4am starts and changes in arrangements for breaks. The invitation to talks represented a change of strategy on management's part. It had previously said that the time for talking was over.

© 2008 The Irish Times

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