Easter holiday travel chaos was averted yesterday with a decision by SIPTU to call off its planned strike tomorrow and accept settlement terms pending a ballot of 3,000 Aer Lingus clerical and general operative workers.
The agreement brokered by the Labour Court, after 16 hours of negotiations, was sufficiently palatable for the union to agree to cancel tomorrow's strike action, which would have severely affected a tourist industry already reeling from the effects of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
SIPTU acceptance of the company's final offer in the late afternoon gave Aer Lingus just enough time to withdraw advertisements in the national newspapers explaining the back ground to the strike and giving details of cancelled flights.
Final acceptance of the peace deal which Mr Noel Dowling, SIPTU'S national industrial secretary, said had delivered "85 to 90 per cent of our demands" is subject to a ballot of the Aer Lingus clerical and operative grades, which is expected to take place early next month.
A spokesman for the union said its negotiating team believed it had been vindicated because the company had "obviously acknowledged the legitimacy of the claim" by clerical and operative workers who had sought pay parity with cabin crew colleagues.
This was demonstrated, he said, by the fact that up to 90 per cent of the union's demands had been conceded. A spokesman for the airline said it was very relieved there would be no disruption of its services.
The final offer from Aer Lingus, which formed the basis for the agreed settlement, covered a number of key areas:
The clerical/administrative Grade 3 scale to be adjusted, giving an increase on the minimum of £300 and on the maximum, of £750, bringing the scale from £12,800 to £22,250 over 18 points.
The higher-grade differentials for clerical/administrative scales to be increased to give an additional £375, to a new total of £1,880 in Grade 2, and an additional £750 to a new total of £4,000 in Grade 1.
The operative scale to be increased by £1,015 at maximum on all scales, plus £203 shift allowance, over 18 points.
The operative grade differentials to be increased by 20 per cent, inclusive of shift allowance.
In addition, Aer Lingus agreed to accept "early retirements over 55 years on the same basis as was extended to cabin crews". This is to be subject to "a maximum of the number of eligible cabin crew" leaving the airline under this arrangement.
The company also agreed that forums should be set up for both clerical/administrative and operative grades.
The recommendation, signed by Mr Fergus Flood as chairman, said the Labour Court considered the company offer to be "reasonable in the circumstances", having taken into account all the issues involved:
"Given the major disruption to the travelling public, and the commercial consequences arising from the ongoing industrial action, the court would earnestly request the union to postpone any further industrial action pending its decision on this recommendation," it said.
Negotiations in the Aer Lingus pilots' dispute which are being brokered by the Labour Relations Commission, the conciliation arm of the Labour Court, have been adjourned until April 19th.
Little real progress has been reported so far, however. The pilots are seeking a 70 per cent increase to bring them into line with colleagues in British Airways and US airlines.