When Aer Lingus personnel transferred to the aircraft maintenance subsidiary of TEAM in 1990 they were given letters of comfort guaranteeing them the right to return to Aer Lingus.
Lawyers acting for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the TEAM unions and the parent company, Aer Lingus, approved a detailed text which was endorsed on behalf of the Government by the then minister for transport, Mr Seamus Brennan.
It provided the following guarantees:
1. Each Aer Lingus employee who will work within the new maintenance company will remain a member of Aer Lingus staff.
2. All working conditions, rights and privileges, including ID cards, pension entitlements, seniority and other benefits will be preserved for each Aer Lingus employee working within the new company.
3. Each individual's seniority and service with Aer Lingus will continue and accumulate in the new company.
4. Promotion within the new company will not affect the guaranteed Aer Lingus status of each individual working within the new company.
5. The agreement will provide that the guarantees given will become part of the individual's contract of employment and will be enforceable by each such individual employee.
6. No change in the terms of the agreement can take place without the individual consent of each employee affected.
The last two clauses give every TEAM employee with a letter, about 1,200 of the 1,600 currently working in the company, the right to sue Aer Lingus for breach of contract if it attempts to transfer them to another employer.
The company also provides guarantees that it will retain at least 51 per cent of TEAM in perpetuity.
Any new investors would not have "any influence on the application, use or investment of pension fund contributions or assets".