Workers at TEAM Aer Lingus said yesterday that the next step in deciding the future of the company was in the hands of management following their response to refuse the buy-out offer.
As workers came and went from their shifts at the company building at Dublin Airport yesterday, those for and against the offer felt there were still outstanding issues to be clarified. Many said they would be afraid to comment. Others gave an opinion but did not want to be quoted.
Almost 60 per cent of the workforce have refused to accept a £54.6 million buy-out of their letters of guarantee from Aer Lingus. The surrender of the letters is a necessary preliminary to the sale of the company to the Danish conglomerate, FLS Aerospace.
Yesterday one employee said he had been an Aer Lingus employee for 20 years and was against the deal. Mr David Carolan, Gracepark Road, Drumcondra, commented that they had lost everything.
"They owe us an awful lot of money. They offered me £38,000, but that's buttons. There's money owed to us for wage increases over the years," he said. On those points alone he had been against the deal, but there were many more.
In favour, however, was Mr John Grant, from Rathgar, Dublin, who said the vote was negative. He knew he was in the minority but did not see Aer Lingus as being particularly attractive. There had been no word since the result, only silence.
"I voted for change as I don't see the point in standing still," he said.
Mr Paddy Finnegan, River Valley, Swords, a craft union shop steward, said Aer Lingus was painting a picture of gloom and doom yet TEAM Aer Lingus was making a profit.
He was against the deal. He had worked at Aer Lingus for the past 23 years. They wanted their wages and conditions restored, they had lost out on wage increases. Others who worked for Aer Lingus had received their incremental wage increases.
"In reality, I'm discriminated against because I work on the other side of a fence in another building. I'm an Aer Lingus employee who works under the banner of TEAM," Mr Finnegan said.
He was not against outside investment but people wanted job security. He was in favour of an employee-shareholding scheme which would work as a three-way partnership.
Ms Tanya Townsend, Raheny, Dublin, said she had voted in favour. "We have no real choice. If we want the company to survive, it's the only way," she said.
Against the deal was Mr Richie Browne, North Strand, Dublin, who is an ATGWU shop steward in TEAM. He said the mood was good among the workers. People and their families were almost terrorised over the last five months.
"It has been a rough five months, and I'm glad the FLS deal has been rejected. Morale is better than in the last five months. It might be the end of a saga but really it is the end of a chapter of a saga," he said.
The next step was up to management. It looked for a response from the workers and got it, he commented.
One man who did not want to be identified said he was in favour as it was the only way forward because Aer Lingus did not want them. Another who was against the deal said there were still many issues to be clarified. He had 15 spent years of his career as Aer Lingus staff and he could not throw that away.
A woman said she had been an Aer Lingus employee for 20 years. They had offered her a sum of money but they did not get their Partnership 2000 increments and there had been a pay freeze for years. They were only getting some of their money back.