Aer Lingus makes plans for strike

The SIPTU union is considering the contents of a letter from Aer Lingus, in which the company warned that staff at the airline would be suspended if they did not cooperate in training new employees recruited on lower terms and conditions.

A SIPTU official has said that the matter would be brought to a meeting of the union's disputes committee next Monday evening - ahead of the expiry of SIPTU's strike notice on Wednesday.

Aer Lingus said this morning it had drawn up contingency plans to minimise passenger disruption in the event of industrial action from Wednesday onwards. It is waiving all change fees for customers booked to travel on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.