An Aer Lingus deal to win over staff ahead of the airline's flotation in September is still a "work in progress" and the threat of industrial action remains intact unless employee concerns are resolved, union representatives said.
Siptu and Impact, the two main unions at Aer Lingus, were reacting to an offer from the airline that would see staff get a pay rise of 3 per cent, lump sum payments of as much as €4,400, and a scheme giving 7.5 per cent of Aer Lingus's profits to employee shareholders.
Aer Lingus management regards the proposals as a final offer in terms of the financial elements. But unions have taken issue with the description of the package as a final offer.
"What was a proposal is now being described as a done deal and that's not the case," said Michael Halpenny, Siptu's national industrial secretary.
Mr Halpenny wrote to Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion last week, pointing out three main issues that need to be resolved.
Siptu members voted earlier this year to proceed with industrial action if the Government moved to privatise the airline without addressing certain issues.
Bernard Harbour from Impact said the union would not put the Aer Lingus proposal to its members unless it resolved outstanding issues such as pay, pensions, the profit-sharing scheme, and protection of employment standards.
The 3 per cent pay increase in the offer, which comes on top of the 10 per cent recently agreed as part of the national pay deal, would be partly wiped out if Aer Lingus employees agreed to increase their pension contributions by 2 per cent, Mr Halpenny said. The issue is currently being dealt with by the Labour Court.
Meanwhile, the airline's proposal on pension arrangements has to be examined by pension experts to ensure they are satisfied with the two supplementary funds that would be set up to deal with a looming deficit at a scheme Aer Lingus staff are members of, he said.
Siptu is also concerned how measures to maintain employees' 14.9 per cent stake in the airline would be implemented. Aer Lingus has promised to transfer up to 7.5 per cent of its profits each year to the Employee Share Ownership Trust (Esot) to buy shares to prevent dilution of the staff's stake. "Nothing has been finalised as to how this will be done," Mr Halpenny said.
The airline has agreed that anyone employed before the IPO would not face "less beneficial conditions of service or remuneration" following the listing of Aer Lingus shares. The airline may be worth almost €1.1 billion if its lucrative slots at London Heathrow are included in any valuation, a report from Davy stated earlier this week.
