Aer Lingus and IALPA to attend Labour Court hearing

The Labour Court will hold a hearing this afternoon in a bid to resolve the ongoing pay dispute between Aer Lingus management and the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association.

The two sides lodged written submissions with the court yesterday and will make presentations at the hearing.

The court will then issue a recommendation.

The Labour Court has asked that there be no escalation of the dispute, but the current work-to-rule by IALPA members at Aer Lingus is remaining in place.

The court met the two sides for more than eight hours on Monday before informing the parties that it will exercise its right to intervene in the dispute under the Industrial Relations Act.

Following the talks, IALPA President Captain Mark Tighe claimed Aer Lingus had refused to move from its original position which has seen the company request flexibility and productivity changes in exchange for any pay increases beyond the 12.25% already agreed with other groups of workers.

Speaking as he left Monday’s talks, Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty described the engagement with the Labour Court as constructive.

He said that it was the court’s assessment that the best approach it could take at this time was to formally intervene and conduct a formal hearing.

Yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he welcomed the decision by the Labour Court to intervene in the dispute and urged both sides to “dig deep” to find a resolution.

On Saturday, Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of IALPA, took part in an eight-hour strike.

They are also continuing with an indefinite work-to-rule which began last Wednesday.

The industrial action has so far led to the cancellation of 392 flights with more disruption on the way if agreement is not reached.

The pilots are seeking a pay rise of up to 24% to take account of inflation since their last wage increase in 2019.

However, Aer Lingus is seeking agreement on productivity and flexibility in return for any pay increases that go beyond the 12.25% agreed with other groups of workers at the company.

On Thursday, management and union representatives met face to face for five hours, but the talks broke down without agreement.

IALPA said it had offered to move from its 24% pay demand but accused the company of failing to reciprocate.

On Friday, the Labour Court issued a fresh invitation to the two parties to attend Monday’s meeting.

The development saw IALPA back down from a plan to escalate the industrial action.