Fórsa’s Aer Lingus Cabin Crew branch committee decided last week not to recommend a 10.25% pay offer to its 1,500 members, following a meeting with management last Friday, at which the airline declined to apply to cabin crew uplifts already given to ground staff.

Following the meeting, a memo to members the airline confirmed it will be hiring new entrants to ground operations on point 3 of the 5-point pay scale, and that anyone employed already in ground operations (below point 3 currently) will be brought up to this point.

Aer Lingus said the measure was a reaction to the recruitment and retention issues that its currently experiencing in ground operations.

The memo said the Cabin Crew branch sought to secure a similar offer, but the airline said it’s not in a position to do so as it’s not experiencing recruitment and retention issues with cabin crew.

Consequently, the committee decided not to recommend the current pay offer for acceptance and have advised that Aer Lingus has already agreed to re-enter the WRC with the committee for talks on the matter. The committee hopes to have a date for the WRC confirmed in the coming weeks.