Unions at Aer Lingus have called on the airline's management to make several improvements to the redundancy package announced on Thursday, writes Emmet Oliver.

Aer Lingus is expected to spend up to €80 million funding the redundancy plan in a bid to reduce the workforce by 1,325.

While unions have refused to reject the plan outright, reservations were expressed at meetings in Dublin Airport yesterday.

Two further union meetings are scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

Mr Christy McQuillan, SIPTU branch secretary at Aer Lingus, said his union would be bringing several "serious anomalies" to the attention of management at meetings in coming days.

He said the package, which guarantees workers a minimum payment of €40,000, was based on basic pay, rather than total pay.

"It does not include shift pay, roster duty allowances or overtime payments," he pointed out.

He said workers throughout Aer Lingus received shift pay because they worked unsocial hours.

He said there was also concern that workers who previously were engaged in part time or seasonal work would not have this taken into account.

On Thursday the company unveiled the redundancy scheme, which breaks into three options.

Option A involves a €7,000 lump sum per year of service.

Option B entitles staff to nine weeks of pay per year of service, up to a maximum of 130 weeks.

Option C allows staff to claim four weeks pay per year of service, plus a service bonus of €2,750 per year of service.

Mr McQuillan said these limits on the package militated against staff with longer service. "There is no doubt that will act as a deterrent to some people taking the package".

However, the company has said the package is structured in this manner to suit the different employees at the company.

Mr Michael Landers, assistant general secretary of Impact, said while his union did not represent as many shift workers as SIPTU, he shared the concerns of Mr Mc Quillan.

Aer Lingus yesterday set up a helpline to provide information for employees on the various options. While the airline declined to comment, it is understood there were a significant number of phone calls to the helpline.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that staff who take the package will be able to retain ownership of shares in Aer Lingus. All employees of Aer Lingus with over a year of service hold shares in an Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT).

As of yesterday, the trustees of the ESOT held 14.9 per cent of the airline's equity on behalf of staff. Staff who leave the airline in the next few weeks will be able to retain these shares.

It is difficult at this stage to put a valuation on the shares. But based on a €700 million valuation for Aer Lingus, employees could stand to make a gain of €26,000 each. If they hold the shares for up to three years in the ESOT this money will be tax efficient.

On Thursday the chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, said he was confident the generous severance package would attract considerable interest.

He emphasised his desire was to see voluntary redundancies at the airline. Staff have until September 14th to decide. Departures from the airline could begin as soon as late September.