IMPACT has accused Aer Lingus of trying to impose productivity changes on cabin crew that would result them losing money even if the company implemented a four per cent pay increase due last October under PPF.
In a briefing this afternoon, the union said that while they had no objection in principle to the productivity changes, under management proposals crew would work more hours with less breaks for less money.
In the absence of any offers for negotiations on the issue, IMPACT says cabin crew have no choice but to go ahead with tomorrow and Monday's industrial action and have not ruled out the threat of further actions at a latter date if the dispute is not resolved.
Essentially, the dispute revolves changes Aer Lingus wants to implement aimed at halving 'turn-around' time.
The company wants to halve plane turnaround times - the time planes spend on the ground between flights - from 50 to 25 minutes.
Staff are not opposing this in principle, but say the company's approach would do away with existing payments for shortening turnaround times.
These are worth €27 for each flight where turnaround is reduced. This means cabin crew would lose more money than they gained from the four per cent increase due in October 2002 under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).
"Aer Lingus is pioneering a new innovation in Irish industrial relations: The pay increase that costs you money," Ms Chris Carney, IMPACT representative for cabin crew.
"Under these proposals staff are being asked to give up €27 each time they cut turnaround times in exchange for €10 a week for a typical worker."
Currently, both sides in the dispute are waiting for Labour Court recommendations on the issue but IMPACT says it is unlikely that anything will emerge before the beginning of next week.
Aer Lingus have already said that the strike would only have minimal effect on flights tomorrow, but earlier in the week indicated that it was disappointed at the decision of cabin crew to go ahead with a two-day strike.It accuses IMPACT of refusing the Labour Court's request to suspend the strike while the Court considers ways to settle the dispute.However, IMPACT this afternoon said the request from the Labour Court to cabin crew to suspend the strike had been a request originating from management in Aer Lingus and relayed to cabin crew via the Labour Court.
In the absence of any significant negotiations, IMPACT said, cabin crew had no option but to turn the request down.