Unions threaten to take Aer Lingus to LRC

Unions at Aer lingus are threatening to take the company to the Labour Relations Commission after it emerged a number of workers received redundancy notices.

The company, which is attempting to reduce its workforce by 2,500, is understood to have sent dismissal letters to between 90 and 150 workers at the company.

The workers are understood to have been probationary or with the company for less than a year and to have come from the check-in and boarding areas, information technology and call centre side of the business.

Unions officials said the move was unacceptable and called on the company to "put the breaks on" until frank negotiations on the company’s future could take place.

SIPTU’s Mr Owen Reidy described the move as premature.

Mr Reidy said the company had acted without consulting its staff which he described as contrary to normal industrial relations policy and against the tradition of social partnership in this country.

He confirmed the union had sent management a letter this morning calling for negotiations but had yet to receive a reply.

He said if management failed to reply satisfactorily SIPTU would be referring the matter to the Labour Relations Commission.

Meanwhile, a group of ten SIPTU Aer Lingus shop stewards and union officials met with TDs from all the main parties today to seek political support for the unions’ campaign to minimise the job losses and return the airline to a viable economic state.