A ballot of 1,400 SIPTU clerical staff in Aer Lingus has rejected a Labour Court recommendation on pay by an overwhelming majority of 97 per cent.
The union will now ballot its members in Dublin, Cork and Shannon on industrial action, said Mr Morgan Nolan, an official in SIPTU's civil aviation branch.
The entry grade scale for clerical workers in the airline starts at £4.75 an hour. The maximum point on the scale is not reached before the employee has served 28 years.
An Aer Lingus employee would have to work for 12 years to reach the £7.17-an-hour rate currently paid in major retail outlets to clerical employees with six years' service, said Mr Nolan.