Aer Lingus cabin crew to stage second strike

IMPACT has said today the one-day strike planned by its cabin crew will go ahead tomorrow, and a further stoppage will take place…

IMPACT has said today the one-day strike planned by its cabin crew will go ahead tomorrow, and a further stoppage will take place on February 16th.

Mr Bernard Harbour, spokesperson for the union said two further one-day strikes are planned for the week beginning February 19th, should there be no resolution to the impasse before then.

"We're looking for a settlement to this through negotiations", he insisted.

The action is the latest protest in the ongoing dispute between the workers and Aer Lingus over pay.

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Aer Lingus are expected to ground most of its planes tomorrow as a result. Just 21 out of 160 flights are expected to operate accommodating up to 2,500 out of 18,000 passengers scheduled to fly.

Aer Lingus
Just 21 out of 160 Aer Lingus flights are expected to operate tomorrow

Ten hours of talks between IMPACT representatives and Aer Lingus management at the Labour Court broke down late on Sunday night without agreement.

The Labour Court had proposed replacing the old 24-point salary scale, ranging from £10,800 to £21,200, with a 15-point scale rising from £13,000 to £22,500, but the recommendation was rejected by 98 per cent of union members last week.

IMPACT objected to the airlines insistence that the union implement the recommendation despite the members’ vote, while company management claimed the union had increased its demands to cost 50 per cent more than the Labour Court recommendation.

Aer Lingus said the additional cost was "totally unsustainable" and "unreasonable".

IMPACT, which represents 1,400 of the airline’s 1,600 cabin crew, claims the pay deal in its current form means staff would have to work for 35 years before reaching a salary of £25,000.

Though both sides claim they are "available for talks", the situation has reached a stand-off.