Unions and management at Aer Lingus meet today to begin six weeks of talks on the airline's plan to restructure operations and cut more than 1,300 jobs.
A threat of early industrial action by SIPTU, which represents more than half the company's 4,000 staff, was averted last week after the parties agreed to hold talks through an independent facilitator, Mr Kevin Foley, director of conciliation services at the Labour Relations Commission.
Unions have concerns about a range of issues including the scale of the job cuts envisaged, the redundancy terms on offer and the working conditions of staff who would remain.
Ms Christina Carney, assistant general secretary of the other main union at the company, IMPACT, said yesterday the talks were likely to be "very difficult".
She said the company was seeking changes that would significantly increase the burden on cabin-crew members and pose a risk to their health and well-being. These included proposals to restrict access to part-time working, reduce crew sizes on board flights to the minimum and reduce time off for recovery after transatlantic flights.
IMPACT would be seeking to ensure that crews continued to work under agreed wages and conditions of employment that protected their well-being.
SIPTU has said a priority for unions will be to secure a lifting of the September 14th deadline set by the company for redundancy applications.
