SIPTU's senior negotiator at Aer Lingus said last night the union is to continue pressing for a meeting with the Minister for Transport, Mr Lowry, despite company assurances that a newspaper report on further job cuts was "speculation.
The report said further cost cuts could mean losses of between 500 and 700 jobs. A company spokesman said employment plans would be first communicated to staff and their representatives. However, he said cost reduction was central to any viability strategy for the airline.
Senior SIPTU officials reacted with outrage to the newspaper report and requested an immediate meeting with Mr Lowry.
The SIPTU negotiator, Mr Paul O'Sullivan, accused senior management of "planting this story in the media".
An Aer Lingus spokesman said that during the recent Irish Air Line Pilots' Association dispute it was made clear that the company's future had to be seen in the context of fierce competition in the marketplace. Fares were being driven down on an almost daily basis with "even the most profitable airlines cutting their costs to remain competitive.
He described the company's finances as "still fragile" and said a joint management staff working group was "examining options to ensure future viability."
In their meeting with Mr Lowry SIPTU officials intend to demand that there be no further job cuts and that the Minister take "immediate steps to restore confidence in the industrial relations system at Aer Lingus".
