A strike at Aer Lingus has been averted after the Labour Court said it would undertake a "formal investigation" of the dispute between the airline and its trade unions.
As a result, Siptu and the airline's craft unions have withdrawn their threat of a 24-hour strike from midnight on Sunday. It was to have been followed by a ban on overtime, a work to rule and the withdrawal of non-emergency call-out services. Aer Lingus for its part has agreed not to introduce controversial new contracts for existing staff from March 1st, which would have changed the terms and conditions enjoyed by workers at the airline.
The introduction of these contracts is at the heart of the dispute, with Siptu and other unions claiming they represent a breach of agreements signed last year.
The company has already issued the contracts to staff who joined the payroll after February 1st. The changes to pay and work practices are proposed as part of a restructuring plan called PCI-07 (Programme for Continuous Improvement).
The Labour Court is expected to begin its investigation at 4pm on Thursday, with further hearings planned for Friday and Saturday.
Kevin Duffy, the court's chairman, will oversee the investigation and the court is expected to issue its recommendation at about midday on Monday next.
The unions would then move to put the recommendation to their members by way of ballots, which could take up to 10 days to process.
It is understood that the proceedings will begin with a presentation on behalf of Aer Lingus by aviation consultant Robert Mosley, who advised the airline in relation to PCI-07.
Representatives from Siptu, which has about 1,800 members at the airline, the craft unions and Impact, which represents cabin crew and pilots, will also make presentations to the court.
Both sides welcomed the outcome of yesterday's "exploratory" talks, which lasted for about five hours.
"This should be a short, sharp process with all of the parties involved with all the issues," said Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus's commercial director. "We're hopeful that an agreement can now be worked out."
Siptu's national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny also welcomed the Labour Court's intervention. "This puts the matters into a process now for all sides to debate," he said. "In addition, we now don't have the prospect of the company taking action [on the contracts] on March 1st and then a union reaction on Monday."
Mr Halpenny said the unions were also happy that Aer Lingus passengers would not suffer disruption to their services over the coming days.
FLIGHT PLAN: Travel options
Aer Lingus said yesterday that passengers who altered their travel arrangements over the past few days in anticipation of industrial action can revert to their original flights for free by ringing 0818-365000.
Changes made via the company's website, however, will be subject to the fees normally charged for altering flight details.
A fee of €35 per passenger (excluding infants) and per flight segment, is charged for changes made via aerlingus.com.
The company said "hundreds" of passengers had changed their flights in anticipation of strike action. Up to 18,000 people fly with the airline each day.
