DAA to seek injunction to stop airport closures

The Dublin Airport Authority will next Tuesday seek an injunction preventing Siptu from closing Cork and Dublin airports for four hours on March 14.

DAA was yesterday given leave to apply for the injunction directing the union to withdraw its notice of the planned action, which is being taken over the ongoing failure between Siptu, DAA and Aer Lingus to agree how to address the near €800m hole in the aviation pension scheme.

The company said it is seeking the legal ruling “on the basis that the proposed action by Siptu is unlawful, as it is contrary to the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act”.

“Siptu only balloted a portion of its membership on the proposal and the planned work stoppages are also contrary to existing agreements between the company and the trade union,” a DAA spokesman said. “DAA intends to pursue all avenues at its disposal to avert this action by Siptu and to keep its airports fully operational.”

The authority said the action was warranted and had already caused significant inconvenience for its airline customers and passengers at the two airports it controls. Shannon Airport, which would also be affected by the industrial action, is not controlled by DAA.

The injunction hearing is expected to be mentioned in the High Court on Monday with the full hearing to take place on Tuesday.

In separate proceedings, Ryanair said the proposed strike action was “opportunistic in the extreme”.

Its counsel said the strike would result in the airports being shut down during one of the busiest weekends of the year as, in addition to the St Patrick’s Day weekend, the date also coincides with the Ireland-France Rugby match and the Cheltenham Horse racing festival.

It said if the industrial action went ahead it would affect almost 100 Ryanair flights which would carry approximately 13,500 passengers. Ryanair sought various injunctions, including orders restraining Siptu and its members from organising or participating in strikes at Dublin Shannon and Cork airports on March 14.

Meanwhile, Siptu has dismissed a report in a newspaper yesterday that it is planning two further strikes, each lasting six hours, for Mar 21 and 24.

Following a preliminary meeting with the expert group, tasked by the Government, Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Union with finding a resolution to the dispute, Siptu said it had asked the group to address a number of matter including a refusal by Aer Lingus to allow the union’s full committee at the airline to attend talks. Dermot O’Loughlin of Siptu warned the committee could withdraw from the process if that restriction is not reversed.

Mueller outlines changes

Christoph Mueller: Labour Court guidelines.

Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller wrote to all staff yesterday to outline “the key aspects” of what had been happening with the Irish Airline Superannuation Scheme which is at the heart of the dispute.

He pointed out that Labour Court recommendations on the pension scheme issued in January and May 2013, had provided for members of the scheme on low incomes to receive up to 89% of their final pensionable pay (FPP).

He said the recommendations from the Labour Court meant employees:

* would be provided with a reasonable pension.

* would have pay rates frozen for a period of approximately 3.5 years.

* would receive additional “stabilisation” payments over the same period that would partly compensate for the pay freeze.

He did admit that since the last recommendation in May last year there had been changes in the financial landscape, including the investment yields available to the IASS.

That has lead to a new, draft funding proposal from the trustees of IASS, which includes a 20% reduction in benefits for active and deferred members of the scheme.

However, he added: “We are satisfied the Labour Court recommended once-off contribution of €110m into the new Defined Contribution scheme for current employees of Aer Lingus, remains adequate to support the achievement of the targeted pension outcomes outlined above.

“Aer Lingus therefore urged the IASS trustee to submit the draft funding proposal to the Pensions Board for consideration. We understand that it has now been submitted.”