Fórsa, which represents several thousand aviation workers, has welcomed the recent development that protects low paid workers in the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) from further salary reductions.

The aviation sector has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and has experienced major financial losses, which resulted in various employers in the sector seeking job and salary reductions.

IAA management approached unions last October and sought pay reductions of €18 million in 2021.

This proposal came after a five-month period where all staff earning €38,500 a year or more operated a 4.5 day working week.

The staff panel rejected the company’s proposal to reduce salaries by €18 million and the issue was referred to the company’s internal dispute resolution board (IDRB), where agreement emerged after intense and detailed discussions.

The agreement, which cuts the total proposed salary reductions by €12 million, was put to ballot and was accepted by 90% on a 70% turnout.

Fórsa official Johnny Fox said the agreement represented a major achievement for the union, which has protected low paid workers, with those on higher earnings shouldering the burden of salary reductions.

The agreement, which covers all of 2021 includes temporary pay reductions of 10% for ATCOs who earn more than €38,500 a year and reductions of between 5% and 9.75% for non-ATCO staff. 

There are no reductions for staff earning below €38,500.

The IDRB has agreed to facilitate a number of reviews in 2021 to assess the IAA’s evolving financial performance, the impact the emergence of a vaccine has on air travel in 2021, the progress being made on other measures that are under consideration to achieve an €18 million cost containment target which the IAA has set for 2021, among others.

The unions also sought an assurance that members due to retire normally in 2021 should not be disadvantaged as a result of the pay reductions. The IAA is to explore how this can be facilitated having regard to the nature of a DB scheme, which is that pension is normally determined by salary and service on the date of retirement.