SIPTU members from Dublin, Cork and Shannon are expected to join a march to the Dβil tomorrow to express their concerns over threatened job losses at Aer Lingus.
Meanwhile the union has welcomed the decision by Aer Lingus to defer notices of termination of employment issued to 93 probationary employees last week. It had been threatening to seek the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission and the company's gesture provides a breathing space as unions and management begin detailed discussions on cutbacks.
However, SIPTU is maintaining its opposition to the privatisation, or partial sell-off, of the airline. Yesterday SIPTU vice-president Mr Jack O'Connor was reluctant to comment on the situation. "Our focus is on the Cabinet meeting tomorrow. The next move is up to them." However the decision to hold the march is part of a wider political campaign to bring pressure to bear on a Government which, many SIPTU members believe, has not done enough to argue Ireland's special case in Brussels.
The march, which leaves Parnell Square at 1.30 p.m. for the Dβil, is not expected to disrupt airline schedules. SIPTU branch secretary Mr Owen Reidy said it was intended to "display the human face of the problem".
About 60 per cent of the proposed job losses will affect SIPTU members with the largest single block of redundancies, 563, falling on the clerical sector. In all, SIPTU could lose about 1,250 of its 4,000 members under the rescue plan and many of those left in the ground handling area could face redundancies down the road when their activities are hived off into subsidiaries that might be sold.
