HOPES are rising this week of a breakthrough in the dispute which is threatening air travel over the Christmas period.
The Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has intervened in a final attempt to have the IMPACT trade union and Aer Lingus management re-enter talks to avoid the imminent closure of the airline’s cabin crew base at Shannon Airport with the loss of 88 permanent jobs.
However, it is understood the talks will not address issues over work rosters and crewing.
This week Aer Lingus cabin crew overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action up to and including strike action in a row over rosters and the threatened closure of the Shannon cabin crew base.
It is understood that the invitation to attend the talks came from LRC Director of Conciliation, Kevin Foley.
Last month Aer Lingus announced it was outsourcing recruitment for new transatlantic routes from Shannon to an independent company, ASL Aviation.
It blamed the decision on a refusal by cabin crew to fly new transatlantic flights from Shannon using smaller planes with fewer crew members.
IMPACT insists that they have not refused to crew the flights and that the airline prematurely closed the door on talks about numbers.
The Shannon-based staff now face the prospect of redeployment to Dublin or Cork, voluntary severance, leave of absence to work for ASL Aviation or redundancy.
Meanwhile, Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea has called on Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to intervene in the dispute.
“We have to do everything possible to save the jobs at Shannon and furthermore, we cannot have a protracted stand-off that could lead to strike action in the run-up to Christmas. It is obvious that management and cabin crew members at Aer Lingus are deeply divided and intervention is required.
“It is vital that Aer Lingus retains a cabin crew base in Shannon, which would give a great impetus for development and growth of Aer Lingus in the region,” he said.
