Aer Lingus employees at Shannon airport yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action over the company's proposals to halve its workforce at Shannon, writes Gordon Deegan in Shannon.

Last Friday, the company announced plans to reduce its ground operations workforce by 104 through a voluntary redundancy programme, and packages are expected to be presented to workers next week.

The company made the move to make the 104 redundant due to a "significant decline in third-party handling business".

According to SIPTU's aviation assistant branch secretary, Mr Tony Carroll, 220 SIPTU members voted by an "overwhelming margin" yesterday to proceed with industrial action.

He said: "SIPTU members are very concerned about their future with Aer Lingus at Shannon. This concern is further heightened by rumours of an imminent decision to alter the bilateral agreement on Shannon's current dual-gateway status, to the detriment of Shannon and the midwest."

Mr Carroll said that SIPTU was demanding an early meeting with Aer Lingus management to reverse what he called the company's "outrageous proposals".

Mr Carroll said that no date has been fixed for the industrial action or what form the action would take.

Clare Fianna Fáil deputy Mr Tony Killeen said the manner in which this issue had been dealt with by Aer Lingus management "reflects no credit on them at all".

"One has to wonder if this action by Aer Lingus management is induced by a fit of pique over its failure to date to get their way to renegotiate the bilateral which would result in the downgrading of Shannon."

Fine Gael's spokesman on Shannon airport, Mr Pat Breen, said: "It is a devastating blow to the region."