AER LINGUS pilots are to ballot on new pay proposals, which offer them average pay rises of 7 per cent in return for radical restructuring of salary structures and changes in work practices. The company's 370 pilots took more than four hours to decide on a ballot at a mass meeting in Malahide last night. The result will be announced next Saturday.
Senior negotiators from the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association met Aer Lingus management yesterday to discuss the details of the award. It was presented to both sides earlier this week by an independent arbitrator, Mr Phil Flynn. Mr Flynn is chairman of the Industrial Credit Corporation and a former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
After last night's meeting the chairman of IALPA, Mr Dermot Rafferty, said an information service was being set up for members during the ballot to brief them on the proposals before voting. He said the main concern was understandable given that this was the biggest change in pay structures negotiated within Aer Lingus for over 20 years.
The main beneficiaries of the changes will be younger and middle ranking pilots, some of whom will receive increases approaching 30 per cent. But some senior pilots were concerned at the early retirement package on offer.
The net cost of the package will be more than £1 million to Aer Lingus but it will achieve considerable long term savings. Another advantage for the company is that the proposals are specific to pilots and cannot easily be translated into follow on claims from the company's other 5,000 employees, most of whom are in SIPTU.
Meanwhile Aer Lingus management and the company's 1,200 cabin crew have been told they should both "stop blaming the other side for all their problems". An independent report says the two sides should accept joint responsibility for perpetuating a blame culture in the company.
Instead they should begin 19 build an industrial relations environment based on mutual trust and respect.
These are among the findings of a study carried out by the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Mr Kieran Mulvey, and his staff. Details have been published in Industrial Relations News.