Q&A: Aer Lingus industrial action — how did it come to this and what happens now?
Lingus In In Anderson Area Airport Check Aer Cork Picture: Empty An Chani
Aer Lingus pilots will meet airline management today in a bid to find a breakthrough to the bitter standoff that threatens to ruin summer holiday plans and damage tourism
A: Put simply, it’s down to pay. Aer Lingus pilots that are part of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) have said they’ve been negotiating with the airline for 22 months in this regard without a breakthrough.
Having exhausted the processes at the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, they have reached the point of industrial action.
Pilots are seeking an increase of 24% which they say is in line with inflation and comparable to rises for sister airline British Airways, which are both part of the IAG Group. It also says management have benefitted from significant pay rises while profits have been significant.
Aer Lingus says profitability levels at the airline are the lowest among this group and investment of its profits in “exorbitant” increases is “simplistic in the extreme”. It also wants agreements on productivity and flexibility as part of any improved pay offer.
Both sides have been trading harsh words in recent weeks in the build up to the industrial action which will affect thousands of passengers
A: In advance of the talks at the Labour Court on Tuesday, expectations were already low that a breakthrough could happen given the increasingly fraught relations between the two sides.
Any hopes were quickly dashed on Tuesday evening as the Labour Court informed both sides that it was “unable to assist in the dispute at this time”. The court won’t intervene yet but it will review it again in July.
A: So, from midnight on Wednesday, pilots have begun an indefinite work-to-rule at the airline. It involves no employee working overtime or any other out-of-hours duties as well as employees only working published rosters.
In response, Aer Lingus has cancelled dozens of flights over the coming days. Initially, flights were cancelled from Wednesday through to Sunday.
However, with the addition of an eight-hour strike this Saturday and further flights cancelled this Monday and Tuesday, so far around 270 flights have been cancelled. And there could be more.
IALPA President Mark Tighe has said pilots “do not want to be in this situation” but did not rule out an all-out strike.
A: In the very short-term, this appears unlikely. Both sides appear to have dug in at this stage and the relationship has showed little signs of thawing in recent weeks — the separate talks at the Labour Court on Tuesday notwithstanding.
Mr Tighe said on RTÉ radio the current situation is due to “corporate greed” , while Aer Lingus has called on IALPA to “consider the damage” the action is “inflicting upon passengers, the company and the Irish economy”.
When asked if there was a role for Government in this ongoing row, outgoing finance minister Michael McGrath told RTÉ that an effective mediator would be “the industrial relations machinery we have”.
“They have the judgement and the experience to know when is the right time to bring the parties together into the one room,” he said. “It is about timing. But both parties have to recognise the reality. This dispute is hurting ... the sooner they get into a room and sit down around a table, the better.”