Siptu willing to talk to airports facing strike threat

Trade union Siptu says it is willing to talk to the managements of three airports threatened by strike next month in a row over a hole in a pension scheme they operated jointly with Aer Lingus.

However, it says it wants them to increase a €50 million offer that is already on the table as part of a settlement.

Siptu members at Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports and at Aer Lingus are threatening to strike in the lead-up to St Patrick's Day in the dispute over the shortfall in their pension fund – the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (IASS).

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), responsible for Dublin and Cork, this week wrote to the union seeking a meeting to discuss new proposals made by the trustees that it was hoped could help break the deadlock.

The union responded yesterday and indicated it was willing to engage. However, it said a lump-sum payment of €50 million that the DAA was willing to pay as part of a settlement recommended by the Labour Court last year was no longer sufficient.

The DAA has offered to put the cash into a new, defined contribution scheme to which staff currently in the IASS will transfer as part of the overall settlement.

Dermot O'Loughlin, Siptu's pension policy adviser, argues in his letter that this figure is based on late 2012/early 2013, and that workers have built up further benefits in the IASS since then.

Latest proposals
The Labour Court settlement was meant to date from the end of 2013, while the latest proposals have set December this year as their implementation date, a difference of 12 months.

While Shannon Airport Authority has written to the union regarding the strike threat, it is not a direct party to the IASS as it was only established a year ago. However, a number of its workers in the scheme have voted in favour of industrial action.