Cabin crew at Aer Lingus are engaged in work-to-rule action at the airline today in an escalation of a dispute with the airline over new rosters.
In a trading statement to the Irish Stock Exchange this morning, the airline also revealed that pilots held a ballot over industrial action last week. The result of the ballot is not known. The pilots, members of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association, are understood to be in dispute with the airline over rosters.
The cabin crew, who are members of the trade union Impact, have threatened to go on strike if the airline disciplines any member taking part in the industrial action.
This morning an Aer Lingus spokesman said the company had contingency plans in place, and there has been no disruption to services.
The airline maintains the new rosters are an essential part of a binding arbitration agreement on an overall €90 million cost-saving plan, which is known as Greenfield.
The union says the changes being sought go beyond the scope of the arbitration, and it has instructed members to revert to previous rosters.
In a statement, the union said it would take “responsive action”, up to and including a strike, if the airline attempted to take action against any member taking part in the industrial action commencing today.
Last week the airline warned cabin crew they could be removed from the payroll and face possible dismissal if they failed to comply with their published rosters.
The union said it did not expect that the work-to-rule would in any way cause disruption or delay to flight services.
However, it said it remained to be seen “what action the company may take in response to the work-to-rule, and the extent to which this may disrupt services”.
“Impact cabin crew resolve to take industrial action commencing with a work-to-rule (within contract), but up to and including strike action because of Aer Lingus’s deliberate breach of contract, agreements and the black book (rostering) rules.
“Should Aer Lingus attempt to take action against any Impact member, the cabin crew branch committee resolve to take responsive action as it deems necessary, up to and including the withdrawal of labour,” the union said.
Impact said yesterday it had instructed its cabin crew members not to work on a rest day, to take full meal breaks when they were due and not to work on the Washington/Madrid route. The union said this service was operated only by crew based in the Republic of Ireland on a voluntary basis and under working conditions that apply there.
It said the maximum duration of flight duty/combination of duties without a meal break was six hours and 15 minutes between take-off and landing. Meal breaks were 55 minutes duration, of which 30 minutes are free of all duties, the union continued.
In a letter sent to cabin crew last Friday, the company’s director of staff relations, Seán Murphy, said the airline expected them to comply with all published rosters.
“Failure to do so will put you in breach of your contract of employment. Aer Lingus will not accept staff refusing to carry out some or all of their contractual duties,” he said.
“Such a refusal could result in immediate removal from the payroll and may culminate in dismissal.”