Cast your mind back to October and you may remember that we looked at Ryanair's takeover bid for the newly-privatised Aer Lingus. At the time, Aer Lingus pilots were frantically spending their pension fund on shares in their airline in an attempt to "keep the barbarians from the gate".
Although Ryanair managed to build up a significant shareholding, its takeover bid never really got off the ground. But, despite this, Aer Lingus employees are now facing unwelcome change.
Management at the airline have devised a cost-cutting exercise entitled "Programme for Continuous Improvement" in which changes to sensitive issues such as holiday and overtime pay have been proposed. The programme received a chilly reception from employees, to say the least.
In an attempt to resolve differences, talks took place at the Labour Relations Commission last week between the airline and the two major unions representing staff, Siptu and Impact. However, a compromise could not be reached, and the unions are now planning to ballot their members on whether to take strike action.
Many recent industrial disputes have revolved around pensions. In the past few years, employers have been moving away from the most coveted pension scheme - defined benefit, which guarantees a specific percentage of salary on retirement. Instead, they are shifting to defined contribution schemes, which offer no such guarantee.
According to Mercer HR consultants, almost 40 per cent of defined benefit schemes in Ireland are now closed to new employees. This is expected to rise to about 60 per cent over the next few years.
"Resistance by some trade unions to this inevitable change is short-sighted," says the employer body Ibec. "Employers have a responsibility to act: if they increase payments beyond what can be afforded it threatens the viability of employment and the business."
In contrast, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions says: "Employers are shedding their responsibility and it is inevitable that many workers will have insufficient pensions when it comes to retirement."
Bank of Ireland announced last May that it was closing its generous defined benefit scheme (which guaranteed members two-thirds of their salaries on retirement) to new employees from October. The Irish Bank Officials' Association (Iboa), a union representing Bank of Ireland employees, threatened strike action.
The bank argued that it could not afford to continue the defined benefit scheme for new staff.
In a decision seen by many as a victory for Iboa, the Labour Court recommended that the pension scheme remain open to new members until a fresh round of talks has been completed.
It will be interesting to see if the two sides can find a solution.
