Aer Lingus flights face severe disruption or cancellation following the decision today by its IMPACT registered cabin crew to hold a 24 hour strike next Wednesday.
The move follows the decision yesterday by the 1,400 IMPACT cabin crew to reject Labour Court-brokered pay deal by a massive 98 per cent.
But an Aer Lingus spokesman said that it would be inappropriate to talk about the degree of disruption because a meeting between IMPACT and Aer Lingus management is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
IMPACT said in a statement further notice of strike action would be issued on Tuesday February 6th. It said there was now a short window of opportunity to reach a settlement and avoid strike action.
Strike action by the airline's IMPACT cabin crew would ground most Aer Lingus flights. It is estimated that only 200 of the company's 1,600 cabin crew are SIPTU members.
IMPACT Assistant General Secretary, Ms Christina Carney, said: "Cabin crew do not want to inconvenience passengers. But they have said no to proposals that mean a 35-year wait for a £25,000 salary, while condemning new staff to worse conditions that their colleagues."
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