Freezing pay ‘will backfire on Aer Lingus’

UNIONS at Aer Lingus yesterday warned that a company threat to implement a pay freeze will backfire.

Representatives of 1,800 ground staff said the airline’s decision to withhold a 7.5% pay increase unless workers comply with a €20 million cost-cutting programme will not weaken their resolve — but strengthen it.

SIPTU has advised the company to immediately withdraw the pay freeze if it wants to have any discussion on the Programme for Continuous Improvement document (PCI-07).

Aer Lingus is refusing to honour pay increases, due under both the social partnership agreement Towards 2016 and annual increments, unless staff accept a reduction in their overall pay packets, restrictions on overtime, trimmed holidays and more taxing rosters.

However, after meeting with Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion yesterday, SIPTU’s national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny claimed the company was breaching the national pay agreement.

“Before there is any further discussion on PCI-07, the company must withdraw this pay freeze. All they have done is make the problem worse by alienating the workforce. In doing that, they have put themselves beyond the pale,” he said.

Mr Halpenny said that SIPTU will now meet with the other company unions, IMPACT and IALPA, to decide on their next course of action.

“We have not ruled out industrial action,” he added.

However, Aer Lingus said it was not breaching the terms of Towards 2016 because that document said pay increases should be accompanied by increases in productivity.

“We did this in 2004. We held back 4% then until change was achieved. And it was achieved area by area. Towards 2016 allows payment in lieu of productivity and change. People are not prepared to do that. We want to pay the increases,” said an airline spokesman.

SIPTU has also accused the company of breaching a Labour Court recommendation made last March by moving Heathrow-bound flights from Shannon to Belfast.

It said the recommendation was that there must be no job losses as a result of opening new bases.

“We have had to take them to task and tell them ‘this is not over’,” said Mr Halpenny.