Aer Lingus unions have been badly divided for the past year by the bitter row over the defection of more than 1,000 cabin crew from SIPTU to IMPACT, but they were all singing from the same hymn sheet at yesterday's meeting with management.
While accepting that some job losses are inevitable they have been quick to seek Government intervention to minimize the effects of cost cuts on staff.
After the meeting IMPACT deputy general secretary Mr Shay Cody said the US government could not be allowed to move unilaterally to bolster its airlines while the EU tied itself to a non-interventionist policy. "Otherwise, when the crisis is over the only airlines left standing will be American ones."
He also said a redundancy fund was needed, after the company told unions it could not afford to pay large scale redundancies out of reserves.
"The EU supports for redundancies in the steel industry should be looked at. The problem needs an imaginative approach."
IMPACT general secretary Mr Peter McLoone and SIPTU president Mr Des Geraghty have played a key role in keeping the majority of ICTU members within the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
They will now be seeking commitments from the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, as well as the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, that Aer Lingus staff will not be abandoned to the whims of the marketplace.
Immediately after yesterday's meeting of the Central Representative Council, on which both unions and management are represented, its secretary Ms Kay Garvey spelt out the unions' position.
"This is a national airline. This is an island economy and the one thing we have to do is ensure this airline survives," she said.
SIPTU national industrial secretary Mr Noel Dowling called for a moratorium on the privatisation issue.
He said the company needed a four to five year period to stabilise itself and prepare for the next upturn in the aviation sector. "Aer Lingus and the unions at the airline must work together to develop a joint plan to deal with the cash crisis affecting the company," he said.
While Mr Dowling said members had been expecting bad news yesterday "they were shocked by the information they received". In responding, "the unions made it clear we expect to be involved in developing the plan required to deal with this crisis."
