Progress report on Aer Lingus talks due today
The body will meet with Kevin Foley and Niall McGinn of the Labour Court and consultancy firm Grant Thornton this afternoon. Grant Thornton were instrumental in resolving the seemingly intractable dispute at An Post in 2005.
Under the direction of the body the Labour Court and Grant Thornton have been liaising with both sides over the past week to see what their positions are on the airline’s Programme for Continuous Improvement 2007 (PCI-07).
In addition, Grant Thornton has been evaluating what the cost implications of PCI-07 will be for Aer Lingus and its workers.
The airline is determined it will introduce the cost savings by the end of the year and if they do it will have a knock-on effect on workers’ pay scales, holiday entitlements and overtime payments.
For the last year, the company and workers have been at loggerheads over PCI-07 implementation.
During that time, there has been two threats of strike action, the latest only averted 10 days ago after the company and unions agreed to have the matter referred to the body.
One source at the current round of talks said they are going “very, very slowly”.
“There have not been any walkouts yet,” he said. “But there is no feeling as yet as to which way the whole thing is going to go.”
Following today’s meetings, the body is expected to issue a progress report to the sides.
