AER LINGUS is proposing to lay off more than loo staff at Kennedy Airport in New York, if it cannot achieve savings of at least £1.4 million in handling and maintenance costs.
The airline is currently in negotiations with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) in New York over the cutbacks.
It has told the union that it proposes referring the dispute to the US Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Like the Labour Relations Commission, the US conciliation service rulings are nonbinding and US workers have no right to statutory redundancy.
According to union sources the company is offering only three weeks pay for each year of service, to a maximum of 18 months, for the 46 full time staff involved.
The fulltime staff have average service of 15 years.
An aircraft engineer, Mr John Foley, who has 10 years service with Aer Lingus, says the company is sacrificing quality and safety standards for a saving of $4 an hour.
That is the difference between the rate currently paid to fulltime staff and what the company will have to pay for contract labour.
However, a spokesman for the company says that safety standards are not at risk. It will continue to use highly trained supervisors to oversee aircraft maintenance.
The airline was reluctant to comment on the dispute yesterday, but it is understood to be seeking savings, as much through greater flexibility in working patterns from outsourcing as from paying lower rates.