A ballot by IMPACT cabin crew members, on a set of rostering proposals put forward by Aer Lingus, was passed by an overwhelming majority at the end of June. A total of 89% voted in favour of accepting the proposals put forward by Aer Lingus.

These proposals sought to address outstanding cabin crew issues, including the implementation of a ‘5/3’ (five days on / three days off) roster. This was the subject of a dispute with the company last year, and resulted in a one day strike action by cabin crew on the 2014 June bank holiday weekend.

Under the proposals, a number of changes are also to take effect on ratification of the agreement, including:

• Three days off rather than two after every second period of transatlantic duties
• A third day off after all Shannon-Dublin-Toronto duties; an extra four days off for Cork-based crew
• Improvements to some working rules and the introduction of a winter leave peremptory request for all crew.

IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton informed Aer Lingus of the result and confirmed that the agreement is to commence with immediate effect.

Assistant general secretary Michael Landers commented, “We are happy with the outcome of the negotiations. It’s not everything we wanted but it’s a huge improvement on where we were.  It has the potential to generate an even better outcome once the financial analysis is completed.  It marks the first time in almost a decade that cabin crew have seen an improvement in their terms and conditions.”