Aer Lingus staff offered 10pc pay hike following WRC talks

The pay package, designed to break a longstanding deadlock on the issue at the airline, follows conciliation talks between airline management and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions at the WRC over recent weeks.

The issue had been referred to the state industrial relations body in November after trade unions at Aer Lingus rejected a pay offer of around 2pc from the airline that the group of unions, including Siptu and Fórsa, had said “falls far short of the expectation” of its staff.

The WRC has now recommended that airline staff should receive a basic pay increase of 2pc – or €640, whichever is the greater – from today, January 1.

Unions would be barred from seeking further increases during the lifetime of the deal

This would be followed by a further 1.75pc – or €560, whichever is greater – from July 1, 2023.

Under the proposal, staff would be in line for two further increases in 2024 and in 2025 of 3.5pc and 3pc respectively.

But the pay proposal is contingent on unions at the airline accepting that the proposals take account of movements in the pay market, the financial and competitive positions of the airline and “need for the business to continually change and evolve”.

The proposal is also contingent on trade unions reaffirming “commitment to the current collective agreements and providing the flexibility and principles expressed and implied in these agreements”.

Unions would also be barred from seeking further increases during the lifetime of the deal, including historical claims that might resurface unless another group within the company achieved greater unfunded basic pay increases.