Aer Lingus pilots to decide on further work stoppage

The disputes committee of trade union Fórsa is expected to meet today to decide whether or not to give the go ahead for a further work stoppage over the coming days by pilots at Aer Lingus who are members of its Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) branch.

The recommendation for an additional strike was made by IALPA yesterday after talks between it and the airline aimed at resolving an increasingly bitter pay dispute broke down without a resolution.

Aer Lingus pilots who are members of IALPA are already set to strike for eight hours this Saturday as the pay row deepens.

IALPA has recommended to Fórsa that the additional strike should be longer than the action planned for Saturday.

If sanctioned, the union will have to give seven days’ notice to the airline before the pilots can stop work.

Aer Lingus has described the threat of further strike action as entirely inappropriate, because the Labour Court requested earlier this week that the dispute should not be escalated.

On Wednesday the pilots began an indefinite work to rule in protest at the company’s handling of their claim for a 24% pay increase.

The pilots claim they have not had a pay rise since 2019 and the hike in wages is in line with increases in inflation since then.

But Aer Lingus is seeking productivity, flexibility and other work practice changes in return for the increase, because it says other employee groups in the airline have only received a pay increase of 12.25%.

Yesterday the two sides met for face to face talks which lasted around five hours.

However, the talks failed to bridge the gulf between the two sides, despite IALPA claiming it had officially softened the size of its pay claim.

IALPA also claimed that Aer Lingus had taken a number of steps that amounted to an escalation of the dispute, including seeking the renegotiation of all collective agreements.

Aer Lingus denied that claim and said the reduction in the pay claim by IALPA was minimal.

It also urged IALPA to seek a mandate from its members to negotiate on productivity and flexibility as part of the discussions.

Already 270 flights have been cancelled by Aer Lingus in the period from last Wednesday up to next Tuesday arising from the work to rule and strike on Saturday.

The airline has said it is currently considering what further actions it needs to take on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week and will inform customers in due course.