Strike fears as talks fail to resolve Aer Lingus pension dispute

Talks between Aer Lingus and union representatives aimed at defusing a row over workers' pensions ended in deadlock yesterday, paving the way for a strike that could ground air travel in and out of the Republic at the start of St Patrick's weekend.

Siptu formally notified the airline and Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports yesterday that members plan to stop work between 5am and 9am on Friday March 14th, the day on which the St Patrick's Festival, a key weekend for tourism, is scheduled to begin.

Any strike is likely to ground Aer Lingus flights during the period affected and close all three airports, as staff in vital services such as fire crews and air traffic control are union members.

This would halt all flights in and out of the Republic’s main airports during that time. The hours between 5am and 9am are amongst the busiest at the State’s airports, with large numbers of departures and arrivals.

Tourist season
A total of 240,000 people are due to visit Dublin and Cork for the national holiday, with a large number of them flying in from abroad. The hospitality industry regards St Patrick's Day as the traditional start of the tourist season.

Siptu’s strike notice makes it clear that the March 14th stoppage will be followed with further action “if the issues between us are not resolved”.

Union members at Aer Lingus and Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) voted for industrial action earlier this month in the latest twist in a long-running dispute over a €780 million hole in the pension scheme that they jointly operate: the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (IASS).

Representatives of Siptu and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions met Aer Lingus management yesterday but the talks failed to bring the sides any closer to an agreement. Negotiations between the unions and DAA earlier this week ended with a similar result.

The sides are mainly divided over the amount of cash that Aer Lingus and the DAA are being asked to put towards a new pension scheme to which members of the IASS would transfer as part of any settlement.

Labour Court
The Labour Court last year recommended that Aer Lingus put up a €140 million lump sum, while the airport authority contribute €50 million.

Both companies agreed and argue that this, combined with a proposal recently published by the IASS trustees that involves a cut in payments to pensioners and a reduction in benefits built up by members, should provide the grounds for a settlement.

However, Siptu argues that the sums are no longer enough to solve the problem.