THE THREAT of industrial action at Aer Lingus has been averted for the present following an agreement between management and Siptu to give more time to ground operations staff to vote again on controversial new work practice proposals.
The 1,800 staff concerned, who include baggage handlers, caterers and check-in personnel, decisively rejected the proposed new measures by three to one in a ballot earlier this month.
The new ballot is to be held over the coming days, with a result due by April 25th.
Shop stewards will recommend to members that they should accept the new work practice arrangements. Management at the company had set a deadline of yesterday evening for the staff to accept the work practice changes which had been agreed in a deal with Siptu negotiators in February.
It had indicated that unless agreement was reached, it would unilaterally implement the controversial new flexibility arrangements today. It had signalled that staff who did not co-operate would be suspended and that it would consider outsourcing some of the ground operations.
Management had been in contact with staff and their representatives over recent days to provide clarification on how rosters would apply to individual workers under the proposed new arrangements.
Following a meeting of Siptu shop stewards at the airline yesterday afternoon, the union approached management seeking an additional 10 days to allow its members to vote again on the proposals. This was later accepted by Aer Lingus management.
As part of the new work practice proposals staff would have been asked to work shifts of varying lengths.
Airline management would also have had the freedom to move personnel between duties, for example, between check-in and boarding, during a shift.
In a statement last night Siptu said that its full shop stewards committee had met at Dublin airport yesterday afternoon and considered that sufficient progress had been made during intensive discussions with management since the original proposals were made to warrant a re-ballot of members.
A spokeswoman said that clarification had been received on how the new rosters would operate. She said that there had been concern among many members at the time of the previous ballot at the lack of detail about how these would operate. She said that some staff also felt that the rosters proposed by management at the time were unworkable.
Aer Lingus did not comment last night.
All of the various Siptu grades at the airline will have to accept the new work practice proposals if the deal is to go through.
The new work practices for ground staff are aimed at generating savings of about € 10 million, largely through avoiding the recruitment of additional staff.
Aer Lingus has already agreed work practice changes with pilots and cabin crew which are aimed at generating savings worth a further €10 million.