Aer Lingus and pilots differ over agenda for LRC talks

Aer Lingus management and representatives of its pilots yesterday appeared very far apart on an agenda for the new talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) aimed at resolving the dispute over the company's plans to establish a new base in Belfast.

Although the 48-hour strike by nearly 500 pilots at Aer Lingus was suspended yesterday to allow for the new talks, the pilots and management seemed at odds over whether they would be discussing the central issue of pay and conditions for staff to be employed in Belfast.

Over the course of the last week, Aer Lingus has maintained that there was no role for the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (Ialpa) branch of the trade union Impact in negotiating pay and conditions for pilots to be taken on at bases outside of the jurisdiction, including in Belfast.

However, after the suspension of the strike yesterday, the president of Ialpa, Capt Evan Cullen, said that on the basis of correspondence from the company, it believed that the position of Aer Lingus had changed.

"On the agenda [for the LRC talks] will be the conditions and bargaining capability of pilots at Irish bases - that is the crucial agenda for Ialpa - and that will include Belfast," he said.

The assistant general secretary of Impact, Michael Landers, said that the LRC talks would deal with the opening of the Belfast base "and that will include discussion on terms and conditions to apply at the Belfast base".

Mr Landers said the union was "optimistic" going into the LRC and that only if these talks failed would the issue of industrial action again arise.

However, Aer Lingus commercial director Enda Corneille said the company had not changed its position in relation to negotiating on the pay and conditions of pilots recruited for the Belfast operation. He said the position of Aer Lingus in this regard was "well known". However, Mr Corneille said he did not want to pre-judge what might take place at the LRC talks.

The deal which led to the suspension of the strike followed a series of correspondence between Aer Lingus and the union since Sunday night.

On Sunday night, Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion invited the pilots to talks aimed at alleviating any concerns they had regarding the impact of the establishment of the Belfast base on their conditions and bargaining capacity in the Republic - a move which had earlier been suggested by the industrial relations consultant Phil Flynn. Mr Mannion did not offer to discuss the pay and conditions in Belfast.

At lunchtime yesterday the pilots association said that it would welcome the acceptance by Aer Lingus of Mr Flynn's suggestion "that joint discussions take place on how Ialpa's concerns (eg, the undermining of the conditions and bargaining capacity of Irish-based pilots) might be allayed."

Aer Lingus later agreed to approach jointly the LRC to facilitate such discussions "and to seek necessary clarification from Mr Flynn on his report".

Shortly before 3pm, Ialpa announced that the planned strike had been suspended.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus declined to estimate yesterday how much the threatened strike had cost it. However, Mr Corneille said that Aer Lingus would have paid a deposit on aircraft it intended to lease to provide a limited service during the strike.