Balloting on the Aer Lingus survival plan can now progress after agreement was reached this evening on the Employee Share Option Plan which will give workers at the company a 14.9 per cent stake in the business.
The deal, confirmed by the Government tonight, will also allow employees to partake in a profit-share scheme of ten per cent of company profits up to a maximum of £20 million.
Purchase of the 14.9 per cent share will be available to employees via an interest free loan advanced by the company.
The funding required to purchase the existing 4.7 per cent employee share-holding granted to individual staff members under the Cahill Plan will be given by the airline over three years. The price for existing shares shall not be more than the £0.99 per share value.
The unions tonight agreed not to seek retrospective Programme for Prosperity and Fairness payments, which Aer Lingus has claimed it cannot pay.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O’Rourke welcomed the agreement and said: "I am pleased that following long hours of talks over several weeks involving Ministers, unions, company and senior Government officials, that we have reached this Agreed Framework, that provides an opportunity for Aer Lingus to face the future with renewed confidence".
SIPTU and IMPACT are to ballot their members separately on the ESOP proposals.
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