Pilots at Aer Lingus are today to consider proposals put forward by the company for new talks aimed at averting the 48-hour strike scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday, writes Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent
In a letter last night Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion invited the pilots to talks aimed at alleviating concerns they may have about the impact of the establishment of a new base in Belfast on their conditions and bargaining capacity in the Republic.
However, Mr Mannion's letter to the Irish Airline Pilots' Association branch of the trade union Impact did not offer negotiations on the pay and conditions to apply for pilots employed in Belfast - its key condition for calling off the strike.
Ialpa president Capt Evan Cullen told The Irish Times he had only received the proposal at about 7pm and, given that a number of senior members of his executive were on duty last night, it would be today before the letter was considered in full.
Up to 40,000 passengers could be affected if the two-day strike goes ahead.
The Aer Lingus proposals for new talks followed clarification issued by industrial relations consultant Phil Flynn on a report he had drawn up earlier this year on the company's plans for new bases.
Aer Lingus had maintained that Mr Flynn had recommended it should be allowed to employ staff at bases "outside of Ireland" at local rates. The union subsequently sought clarification from Mr Flynn on whether he had intended to define Belfast as a base outside of Ireland. In reply Mr Flynn said that Aer Lingus had never provided him with specific locations for possible new bases.
He said if Belfast had been mentioned he would likely have recommended that joint discussions take place on how concerns of the pilots might be allayed.
Mr Flynn had previously stated that the union had a genuine fear that Aer Lingus would use a recommendation allowing for employment at local rates at new bases to undermine the conditions and bargaining capacity of Irish-based pilots.
In his letter last night Mr Mannion said Aer Lingus noted Mr Flynn's acknowledgment of concerns that the union may have "regarding the effect such a base outside the Republic may have on existing terms and conditions for those working within the Republic".
In a separate development yesterday, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern intervened in the Shannon controversy for the first time by asking a group of senior Government officials to examine all the available options for airline connections to the region.