SIPTU call for meeting with Aer Lingus CEO

Union officials have demanded a meeting with the Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh in an attempt to save 1,300 jobs at the airline.

SIPTU has given Mr Walsh 48 hours to either meet with the union or "face the consequences".

The union is seeking the meeting with a view to reversing the contents of a business plan which recommends the redundancies.

Aer Lingus management have set a September 14 deadline for workers to accept the redundancy package.

SIPTU's national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny has said: “The company here have decided arbitrarily that there will be a deadline of the 14th of September. That is grossly offensive to the employees and seriously underestimates the difficulties posed by the plan.

"This is what anybody would describe as a gun to the head.”