Aer Lingus warn cabin crew there’s no way around lay offs and pay cuts
CASH-STRAPPED Aer Lingus have warned that lay-offs are imminent and further cost-cutting measures will be imposed on their 1,300-strong cabin crew after workers overwhelmingly rejected proposed changes in work practices.
The national airline suffered catastrophic losses of €563 million as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Staff are said to be now considering their next move after the company told cabin managers that many would be temporarily laid-off and that pay cuts would not be partially restored, as they had previously been promised.
The Forsa trade union held a ballot of their members about new work practices during the week but they refused to accept the airline’s proposals.
But Aer Lingus have now written to workers and told them that as a result the current voluntary severance programme will close and no further severance offers will be made under the scheme.
It also said that “while it had previously indicated that all cabin crew pay and hours would likely move to 80 per cent from the current 60 per cent prior to Christmas, a surplus of staff at the Cabin Service Managers (CSMs) grade had since been identified.”
To address this the CSMs will not progress to an 80 per cent working arrangement in line with other crew grades, Aer Lingus said.
Instead they will be retained at 60 per cent of their underlying contracted hours and pay for the foreseeable future.
Aer Lingus said: “Given the extent of the surplus at the CSM Grade, there is also an imminent requirement to place a number of CSMs on temporary lay-off.
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“It is likely that this lay-off requirement will continue well into 2022 and indeed may increase in number.”
The company also warned that beyond the CSM grade, it is also likely that it will have to implement lay-offs within other cabin crew grades from early next year.
They added: “We will write to all affected crew over the coming weeks detailing the position as it relates to them individually and confirming lay-off requirements where they arise.”
The airline said there will also be no pay increases applied to cabin crew until the start of 2025 at the earliest.
Aer Lingus also stated that there would be other work practice changes, including to how lieu days are treated, while reviews of a number of other areas impacting cabin crew had commenced.
It’s understood that the airline’s approach has not come as a surprise and the cabin crew are now considering their position.
STAFF BALLOT
A ballot of ground operations staff, who are members of SIPTU, is also due to be completed next week.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said the Structural Change proposal clearly outlined the serious challenges facing the business and the changes to pay and work practices necessary to deal with the situation.
It said: “The process involved many months of engagement and consultation during which the damaging effects of the pandemic on the airline and its prolonged and ongoing impact were clearly communicated.
“Aer Lingus has now begun the process of communicating to Forsa and cabin crew the measures that the airline will now implement in order to deal with the challenges.”
Forsa said the result of the ballot was “not a great surprise” as it would lead to “further erosion” of conditions.
NOT LISTENING
It acknowledged the impact of the pandemic, but said there was a “general feeling that management is not listening to cabin crew’s concerns”.
Forsa have urged the airline to “work with staff, not against them”.
It is expected that union officials will meet in the coming days before deciding how to respond to the airline’s threat.
Sinn Fein last night called on the Government to intervene in the dispute and insisted the Wage Subsidy Scheme should be extended beyond the end of the year for the aviation sector.
Transport spokesman Darren O’Rourke described Aer Lingus’s treatment of staff as “brutally unfair”.
He told the Irish Sun: “I raised the issues of the need to support workers across the winter period and we want the wage subsidy to continue beyond the end of the year.
“Aer Lingus has received very significant funding for over the past 18 months. This appears to be an absolutely strategic decision by management and we have been critical of the way the Government have handled it.
“It ssems to be a deliberate attempt to go after long serving staff on better contracts. They want to reudce the terms of dedicated workers who have been loyal to what was once a proud Irish institution.
“Aer Lingus is no longer as Irish as it once was. It’s very regrettable and I thnk it needs to be resisted. We have consistently called for the Minister for Transport and the Tanaiste to intevene because of the essential role they play in connectivety and the protection of valuable routes.
“There has been onoing difficulties with Aer Lingus and EWSS which have never been resolved. Cabin crew have been down money in terms of their wages and other circumstanvces because of social welfare.
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It’s all about paying bills, keeping a roof over their heads and looking after their mental and physical health. There has been a divide and conquer mentaliy by treating some workers differently than others and it’s brutallt unfair.
“It’s a tough business but Aer Lingus will be alright at the end of this.”