Siptu votes for action at Aer Lingus

Siptu members at Aer Lingus have voted to take industrial action in a dispute about the introduction of new terms and conditions for its 1,800 members at the company.

About 95 per cent of the 1,350 staff who participated in the ballot voted in favour of action. They will now seek the formal sanction of Siptu before serving Aer Lingus with notice of its intention to take action.

Michael Halpenny, Siptu's national industrial secretary, said action could be taken before the end of February at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports. Siptu has already referred the dispute to the Labour Relations Commission and the National Implementation Body without success.

Mr Halpenny said a "full strike should not be ruled out". It is understood, however, that staff would probably opt initially for limited work stoppages, a ban on overtime or the withdrawal of co-operation from certain tasks.

It is estimated that an all-out strike could cost Aer Lingus up to €3 million a day if services were grounded. The airline has declined to say how much its controversial move will save on costs.

Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus's commercial director, said the new terms and conditions were vital for its survival. "Life has changed and we have to move forward in the best interest of the company," he said.

Aer Lingus is also currently in talks with Impact, which also represents its staff, under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission.

The dispute with Siptu relates to Aer Lingus's decision to introduce new contracts for staff, aimed at reducing its cost base to bring it into line with other low- cost carriers. The airline argues it is also necessary if the airline is to resist future takeover attempts by Ryanair or another rival.

The measures include reducing holiday leave, cutting days in lieu available for working on bank holidays, changes to grading and reducing overtime payments and shift premium.

Aer Lingus has said that the average cost per employee is €72,000 per annum. Siptu, however, has challenged this figure, arguing that the "average basic operative pay" is €33,000 a year.

The airline said its figure includes overtime and other payments and argues that some ground handling staff are earning up to €110,000 a year.

Siptu's members are thought to be unhappy at the fact that they are being asked to take cuts in their take-home pay when no such measures are being sought from management.

It is understood, however, that the airline's remuneration committee, which is headed by chairman John Sharman, is currently assessing the pay and other benefits of both the airline's six top executives and its 22 senior managers.

While a cut in pay is thought to be unlikely for the airline's top team, a pay freeze could be introduced.

The changed staff contracts were introduced in recent weeks and 24 new recruits, all cabin crew, have been issued with them. This move has angered Siptu, which asked the airline to delay the introduction of new terms while talks were under way. "This is a totally avoidable dispute," Mr Halpenny said. "The resolution is in the gift of management by simply adhering to the agreements that it negotiated and by abandoning the provocative and dangerous strategy of confrontation and unilateral action."