AER Lingus faces renewed industrial unrest because of a pay dispute with its 374 pilots. The Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) is meeting the company today to hear the company's reasons for refusing to implement a 17 per cent pay rise recommended by a jointly-agreed arbitrator.
This development comes as 400 Airport Police and Fire Service (APFS) personnel who work for Aer Rianta lifted their threat of industrial action at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports. They are protesting at the increasing use of private security firms.
Meetings were held in all three airports yesterday and members are to be balloted over the next week to 10 days on settlement terms to the dispute. SIPTU is recommending acceptance of the terms "on the basis that they offer an opportunity for dealing with the present and future job security of the APFS".
If the proposals are accepted the threat to air traffic will be removed. But if they are rejected strike action could be implemented at short notice.
It is expected to prove difficult to avoid industrial action over the pilots' pay claim. The chairman of the IALPA branch at Aer Lingus, Capt Dermot Rafferty, says members "have worked very hard over the past number of years to ensure the continued financial health of the company", including the implementation of the Cahill plan.
He puts the actual cost of the first phase of the pay increase at less than £200,000 and says that even if it is fully implemented, pilot costs at Aer Lingus will remain among the lowest in the EU. "Aer Lingus pilots cost less than 3.5 per cent of total costs, in comparison with over 7 per cent in most other European flag carriers."
But it is known that the company is resisting implementation of the pilots' deal mainly because of fears that its other 4,000 employees will "piggy back" on the pay claim. The majority of other employees are members of SIPTU, which put in a claim for an unspecified pay increase earlier this year.
Cadet pilots start at £16,700 a year, and this increases to £52,000 on a 26-year scale. Various allowances can push earnings at the top of the scale to over £60,000, depending on length of service, routes, shifts and aircraft operated.
The pilots' review proposes a 5 per cent pay rise from October 1st, another 5 per cent from next July and a 7 per-cent increase from May 1st, 1998.
The award arises from a six- year review which was conducted by a joint Aer Lingus/IALPA tribunal chaired by Mr Roddy Horan BL. The airline representatives on the tribunal issued a minority report, rejecting the findings of Mr Horan and the IALPA representatives.