Industrial action from Aer Lingus workers now 'inevitable'

SIPTU said this evening that industrial action is now inevitable after talks with Aer Lingus regarding its pension scheme collapsed.

It is expected that a wide-ranging strike will take place in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month strike action at the country's main airports was narrowly averted when both sides returned to the Labour Relations Commission.

"It's quite a dark situation," said SIPTU organiser Dermot O'Loughlin.

"The LRC have confirmed that their processes can bring this no further, and upon a request from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, it was confirmed that the Aer Lingus management team won't attend the Labour Court.

"So, as such, we have exhausted all appropriate industrial relations processes, and it would appear now that it is inevitable that industrial action will happen in November."