Aer Lingus and pilots to meet at Labour Court in latest effort at resolution
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Aer Lingus and the union representing its pilots are to meet at the Labour Court on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting is the latest attempt to bring the two sides together to hammer out a resolution.
After facilitating eight hours of discussions on Monday, the Labour Court decided to use its authority to have a formal meeting on Wednesday, after which it will issue a recommendation.
The meeting is being held a week after the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) began an indefinite work-to-rule action, resulting in them withdrawing from out-of-hours services.
An eight-hour strike was also held on Saturday, during which hundreds of pilots marched around the airport, holding signs that read “two years talking, deal now” and “no pilots, no profits”.
The industrial action has resulted in almost 400 flights being cancelled and tens of thousands of passengers’ travel plans affected.
The airline admitted the dispute had caused “significant financial and reputational damage”.
The pilots had been seeking a pay increase of 24 per cent, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.
However, the union said it would be willing to consider a lower pay increase during a meeting with the airline at a hotel last week.
However, it accused Aer Lingus of not making a similar compromise to move from its offer of 12.25 per cent, without requests for pilots to improve productivity.
If these rounds of talks fail, the pilots' group said it would return to consider an escalation of its industrial action.
An interim Labour Court recommendation for pay increases of 9.25 per cent was rejected by Ialpa members last month, who then decided to pursue industrial action.
On Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he wanted to see engagement from both parties at the Labour Court and urged them to stay there for “as long as it takes”.
“We want to see meaningful engagement and, as I’ve said, I don’t think there’s ever been an industrial relations dispute that has been resolved without two things – engagement and compromise,” Mr Harris said.
