IT is probable that either the Labour Court or the Labour Relations Commission will intervene in the Aer Lingus dispute today. Late last night informal contacts were continuing to try to establish if an initiative by either could avert the strike due to begin at midnight on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Aer Lingus, Mr Gary McGann, said yesterday evening that the company was engaged in a "battle for survival". He called on members of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) to recognise the "irreparable damage to the company" which insistence on a 17 per cent pay demand would have.
"In recent weeks, Aer Lingus has presented a clear business plan to staff which is intended to ensure not just the survival, but the profitable growth of the company. If we are to have a commercial future, that is the only way forward," Mr McGann said.
The company is placing advertisements in today's newspapers detailing the contingency flight schedules which will be in operation from next Monday if the strike goes ahead. It plans to lease aircraft to provide a near-normal service on its priority routes such as Dublin-New York, Dublin-London Heathrow and its main European destinations.
On the Dublin-Heathrow route, for example, it will provide seven flights instead of the normal nine. But it will use larger aircraft, giving it a carrying capacity of 1500 passengers.
IALPA claims that leasing aircraft will cost Aer Lingus at least £4 million a week and compares this to the £3 million which full implementation of its 17 per cent pay award would cost the company annually.
Aer Lingus rejects the IALPA figure, but has not said how much the dispute will add to operating costs.
An Aer Lingus spokesman said that conceding the 17 per cent pay award would "bankrupt the company" when taken in conjunction with follow-on claims from other Aer Lingus unions.
Earlier yesterday the Aer Lingus group of unions held an emergency meeting at the request of IALPA. The pilots did not request an all-out picket, but the group did issue a statement offering "moral support".
The statement acknowledged that IALPA had "adhered fully" to procedures on pay determination with Aer Lingus and said that the current dispute had arisen through non-implementation by the company of the outcome of this process.
Either the LRC or the Labour Court can intervene in the dispute if Aer Lingus or IALPA requests them to do so. IALPA has resisted going to the Lab our Court on the basis that the pilots' pay review tribunal was, in effect, a similar type of non-binding arbitration.
However, there is nothing to prevent the company from invoking Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act to seek the court's intervention. The only condition is that Aer Lingus would have to agree to be bound by the court's adjudication.
An alternative is for IALPA to request the LRC to intervene in the process. This would provide a more flexible forum for discussion, but it does not seem to appeal to Aer Lingus. Although the company says that it would attend the LRC, if requested to do so, it would prefer to set aside the pay award and enter into direct negotiations with the union.
It is also open to the LRC or the Labour Court to invite both parties to talks, but neither is likely to do so unless the two sides indicate a willingness to avail of their services. Unless such negotiations begin today, a strike from midnight on Sunday seems inevitable.