Aer Lingus cabin crew’s trade union is calling on members to reject the offer of a 4 per cent pay boost from the airline in a vote next week, it has emerged.
About 2,000 flight attendants will begin balloting on Tuesday on the offer of a 3 per cent or €960-a-year increase, whichever is greater, from January 1st next year, followed by 1 per cent or €320, whichever is greater, from July 1st.
However, the Aer Lingus cabin crew branch committee of their trade union, Fórsa, is recommending that they vote against the offer as most members say the deal does not go far enough.
The news comes as trade union Siptu is running 10 different ballots across its members in the airline on pay increases. Willie Noone, Siptu’s divisional organiser, said on Friday that a result from those votes is due on October 9th.
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A letter from the Fórsa branch committee to members shows that 90 per cent of those who took part in a poll responded that the offer was not acceptable.
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Fórsa’s members’ news bulletin reported the branch committee’s recommendation on Friday.
Union official Lisa O’Connell explained that the poll showed clearly that the proposals “did not go far enough” in closing a pay gap that emerged between cabin crew and pilots during the Covid-19 pandemic, when airline workers suffered severe pay cuts.
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According to a letter to members, Fórsa asked the company to bridge this by paying cabin crew two €1,500 tax-free vouchers, but management said it could not do this.
Ms O’Connell pointed out that pandemic pay cuts hit cabin crew hard.
“Many are still trying to recover financially as a result of those Covid-era measures, and our cabin crew members believe the deal falls short of undoing the legacy of those measures,” she said.
Cabin crew suffered a 70 per cent pay cut while pilots’ earnings fell 50 per cent.
Stemming from the pandemic, pilots were due to pay €34 million in total back to the company through pay deals.
However, following weeks of industrial action in June and July 2024, an agreement that increased pilot pay by 17.75 per cent also wrote off that debt.
That deal prompted cabin, ground and craft workers’ unions to seek a 4 per cent pay increase from the company.
However, Aer Lingus sought increased productivity in return. Talks have been taking place for several months.
Mr Noone explained that Siptu, whose members include 1,500 ground crew at the airline, is running 10 separate ballots simultaneously as the company is proposing different measures for different groups across Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
He confirmed that voting was continuing. Aer Lingus did not comment.
