Today the final results from the ballot of TEAM Aer Lingus workers on whether they wish to transfer to FLS Aerospace will be known. Already more than 80 per cent of the 1,550 strong workforce has indicated that it will accept the £54.6 million buyout of their letters of guarantee from the parent company, Aer Lingus.
Senior FLS executives arrived in Dublin yesterday and are expected to begin analysing the acceptance forms today, to see if they have enough craftworkers to make the acquisition of TEAM a viable concern. Industry sources are confident this will be the case.
However the final price agreed for TEAM will be significantly affected by the number and composition of the employees agreeable to the transfer. FLS will also seek last minute concessions to the workforce on pay, which will add about £2 million a year to labour costs, to be taken into account. As a result the final deal is likely to be significantly less than the £25 million originally anticipated.
The closing date for receipt of acceptance forms from the workers was deferred by a month from the original deadline at the request of the TEAM trade unions. Last Friday the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Trade Unions requested another meeting with the Minister for Public Enterprise Ms O'Rourke, to discuss the situation.
Ms O'Rourke, who was leaving Dublin on two weeks holiday, said she would be willing to meet them on her return. However she told the unions that she was satisfied all the issues that could be addressed had been. She urged all employees who had not done so already to return acceptance forms to the company.
In a final bid to meet the concerns of TEAM Aer Lingus workers to retain their cheap air travel concessions, Ms O'Rourke persuaded Lufthansa last week to agree to allow TEAM employees to access its routes at 10 per cent of normal fares. Lufthansa has acquired 90 per cent of the other former aircraft maintenance facility Airmotive.
The combination of cheap travel on Aer Lingus and Lufthansa means that TEAM workers have retained most of the travel concessions they were looking for, and should have seen a significant increase in the number of acceptance forms returned this week.
