Siptu's 1,800 members at Aer Lingus have been urged by the union to accept a company business plan which has been the subject of negotiations for the past two years.
The union emphasised yesterday that the business plan, first unveiled in 2004, was "completely separate" from any move to privatise the airline.
Nevertheless, a decision by workers to accept the plan would remove one of the remaining obstacles to the planned flotation of the airline in the coming weeks.
In effect, it would remove the threat of industrial action to block privatisation, although Siptu could continue to campaign against the move.
The Labour Court said workers should receive a 4 per cent pay increase for co-operating with the business plan, as well as service-based lump sum payments ranging from €400 to €4,000 for each employee. The increases are in addition to the 10 per cent rise proposed in the new national pay deal.
Siptu said yesterday new levels of permanent job numbers were also being considered which, if accepted, would result in 500 extra permanent jobs immediately applying to ground staff.
It said the original business plan had sought "massive outsourcing" but this had been abandoned at the insistence of the union's members.
Siptu and other unions at the airline are to ballot members on the recommendation over two weeks up to September 15th.
Impact, one of the big two unions in Aer Lingus alongside Siptu, has yet to issue a recommendation, but its members are considered likely to accept the court's recommendation.
Impact is also more positively disposed than Siptu towards the part-privatisation of the airline, having secured assurances on measures to protect job numbers and workers' pay and conditions.
Siptu Aer Lingus branch organiser Christy McQuillan said the union remained "steadfastly against" a sale of the airline.
"The Government's decision is not in the best long-term interests of the country, the travelling public or the workforce, and is a grave strategic error and bad value," he said.
"Indeed, given certain economic factors, the country's strategic needs from a transport infrastructure point of view and the position of the Europe/USA open skies agenda, the Government's decision is seriously flawed."
Mr McQuillan added that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern should at this stage "apprise himself more fully" of the serious factors at stake. "Ultimately he has the final opportunity to decide not to press the destruct button on a national airline which the country vitally needs now and into the future."
