Aer Lingus unions react cooly to pay offer

The two main unions at Aer Lingus have reacted cooly to a package of measures from management at the airline designed to encourage support for a flotation later this year.

If the deal were accepted Aer Lingus staff would receive a 3 per cent pay rise over and above rises due under the new national pay agreement and a lump sum payment of up to €4,400.

Staff would also be entitled to a new 7.5 per cent profit sharing scheme to invest in shares.

However, Siptu's national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny said the benefits to workers under the plan had been highly exaggerated and that the union concerns over job security and pensions were not addressed by the plan.

He said in the absence of reassurances about job security, a threat of industrial action by Siptu members at Aer Lingus remained. "We balloted our members . . and they voted in favour by 90 per cent that if the company proceeded towards this IPO without agreement on the pay and terms and conditions then were was a mandate for industrial action," Mr Halpenny said on RTE radio today.

Mr Halpenny said a proposed €104 million

lump sum payment to the company pension would make up only two-thirds of the deficit. Staff and the company would have to make up the shortfall and in that context, the 3 per cent pay rise looked a lot less generous.

He added that the union had secured an informal opinion from the European Commission suggesting the Government has "little or no chance" of securing a "golden share" to protect the national interest following the flotation.

In a statement today the Impact union said it has not agreed to the proposals from Aer Lingus management.

Impact said it has raised a number of staff concerns pay, pensions, the employee shareholding and employment standards.

Under the deal Aer Lingus management has agreed to suspend outsourcing until 2010 and to maintain a minimum of 75 per cent of the airline's workforce on permanent contracts.