Aer Lingus cabin crew who started voting yesterday on Labour Court proposals on pay and conditions have been urged by the airline's chief executive to accept the plan.
The IMPACT trade union, which represents the majority of cabin crew, has been mandated to take industrial action if the Labour Court recommendation is rejected. IMPACT's cabin crew committee advised staff on Monday to vote against the recommendation, saying the proposals were inadequate and would lead to unacceptable new working conditions.
Aer Lingus group chief executive Mr Michael Foley said he believed that pay increases ranging between 10 and 20 per cent, as recommended by the Labour Court, in conjunction with PPF awards, "give people annual pay increases of a minimum of between 15.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent and meet the criteria of fairness to our people while allowing us to continue to offer an attractive service to our customers".
Other Labour Court proposals include: all 20-hour week, £6,000 a year part-time staff will receive 35-hour week, £13,000 a year full-time contracts with immediate effect; salary scale reduced from 24 years to 15 years; and immediate guaranteed minimum £2,000 a year increase for all cabin crew regardless of service length, with long-serving crew to receive increments of up to £2,500.
IMPACT, however, said it was concerned the Labour Court's recommendation would introduce two-tier working practices, with new staff experiencing worse working conditions than existing cabin crew.
On the threat of industrial action, Mr Foley said it "undermines customer confidence and is against the best interests of all stakeholders in this business". He called on every cabin crew member to carefully consider the pay benefits available under the recommendation. Results of the ballot are expected next Tuesday.