Aer Lingus begins talks to sway anti-roster staff
The company yesterday said it believed the draft rosters it had given staff had not been properly explained and this was why they had voted by three to one against its cost-saving agenda.
New timetables are one of the key concessions the company has asked ground staff to make in order to contribute €10 million of the total €20m in savings the company is demanding under its Programme for Continuous Improvement Agenda 2007 (PCI-07).
As that name suggests, the process was supposed to be wrapped up in 2007.
The last 18 months since PCI-07 was first initiated have seen various threats of strike action by SIPTU. The union still has a mandate to serve notice of strikes if the situation deteriorates again.
If the company fails to convince the individual workers of the merits of the new rosters, it is expected that relations could very quickly turn sour.
As Aer Lingus continues to meet workers today, the union will be asking the airline what its intentions are. The union’s shop stewards will then gather to consider its next steps.
But it has not been all bad news for Aer Lingus on the PCI-07 issue this week as cabin crew voted 76% in favour of accepting its part of the cost-saving agenda.
A spokesman for their union IMPACT said: “We have now said to the company that the payment of money due under Towards 2016 must now go ahead because the productivity deal has been accepted.”
The company had withheld payment of the T2016 payments from all its staff until PCI-07 is accepted.
The result of a ballot of pilots should be known before the end of the week. They are also expected to vote in favour of the action meaning that, along with the savings from cabin crew, the company will have secured at least €10m in savings.
