Siptu members working in Aer Lingus and Shannon Airport Authority have joined their colleagues in the Dublin Airport Authority in backing strike action over the almost €800m hole in a pension scheme.

Siptu will today count the ballot of its members in Aer Lingus to establish whether they, like their colleagues in the Dublin Airport Authority, are prepared to strike over the €800m hole in their pension scheme.

In the absence of an adequate resolution body, disputes loom large, says Stephen Rogers.

The Six Nations rugby tournament and people returning to Ireland for St Patrick’s Day are likely to be targeted in strikes at Aer Lingus.

As part of my job meetings with executives in a variety of companies take place every week. More of those in recent months have been in the Munster region and one topic that comes up like a regular drum beat is Cork Airport.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has signalled dissatisfaction with Aer Lingus management over its remuneration practices, amid its ongoing pensions dispute.

Cork Airport is unlikely to meet its previously stated target of breaking even — on a cash basis — by the end of this year, but its owners remain "focused" on returning the airport to growth.

A company providing cleaning and security services at Dublin Airport has brought a legal challenge after its tender for a €25m contract to provide those and other services over the next five years was rejected.

With just 10 days to go before a strike grounds up to 28,000 of its passengers, Aer Lingus has denied cabin crew claims they are having to work 60-hour weeks and accused them of trying to double their paid leave.

The panel that examined the €780m deficit in the aviation pension scheme yesterday said the solution it was suggesting provides the "final opportunity" for members to get their "optimum level of future pension provision".

The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has stated that new government legislation provides a mechanism for Cork Airport to become independent.

The aviation regulator has proposed a cumulative 22% drop in charges at Dublin Airport over the next five years.

The Aer Lingus roster dispute has hit the headlines, but the pensions row raises the prospect of further strikes, writes Stephen Rogers.

A four hour-stoppage by workers at Aer Lingus and the country’s three main airports on March 14 could ground hundreds of thousands of passengers both here and across the globe.

With less than 48 hours to go until strikes could bring the country’s main airports grinding to a halt, tens of thousands of intending passengers will only find out this afternoon whether an attempt to legally prevent the Siptu action has been successful.

The Dublin Airport Authority will today seek to legally prevent Friday’s four-hour closure of the country’s main airports — and the likely disruption to tens of thousands of passengers — through strike action by members of Siptu.

No meaningful action has been taken to confront much less resolve the pensions’ crisis, betrayal and inequity facing hundreds of thousands of workers and their dependants.

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

Siptu is planning a “relentless series of industrial action running through the summer and right into the autumn” at both Dublin Airport Authority and Aer Lingus, if there is no resolution to a three-year pensions dispute.

Only one in 10 SMEs apply for public sector contracts in what is a very lucrative €12bn market.