Unions in Aer Lingus have disputed claims by its chairman John Sharman that the airline never adopted as policy a series of measures to make life difficult for staff when the company was seeking 1,300 redundancies last year.
Managers in the company will be called before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport next Tuesday to answer questions about the 30-page human resources memo, which was circulated last year to eight senior managers, and was leaked on Tuesday.
Mr Sharman met Aer Lingus unions last night in an attempt to calm disquiet about the document, which was said to have prompted considerable anger among sections of the airline's staff.
The measures were reported to have included suggestions that staff would be forced to wear "tacky" uniforms such as jumpsuits and T-shirts, a claim that was denied by sources close to Aer Lingus who said that yellow T-shirts were used for promotions around the time of the Special Olympics in 2003.
The same sources said a special training programme for pilots was introduced because 48 of them were being paid to stay at home after the type of aircraft they flew was phased out.
Details about the document emerged on the same day as negotiations began on new working conditions for cabin crew on long-haul flights, and less than three weeks before the arrival of the airline's new chief executive, Dermot Mannion.
Despite efforts by Aer Lingus to make little of the controversy, Opposition and Government politicians were united in their criticism of the airline after it was reported that the tactics outlined in a 12-point plan in the memo included giving a "tap on the shoulder" to certain staff to tell them they had no future in the company.
Government chief whip Tom Kitt said such measures were "crude" and "inhumane" and Labour transport spokeswoman Róisín Shortall said it was clear that managers in the company "fostered a climate of fear and uncertainty" to coerce staff into voluntary redundancy.
But while the airline confirmed the existence of the document, Mr Sharman issued a letter to all staff yesterday afternoon in which he said Aer Lingus would never countenance or condone such tactics. He also claimed a newspaper report about the document was based on "selective misinterpretation" of a portion of one paper used as a discussion document when a new business plan was being prepared.
The company declined to release the document but confirmed it was prepared in mid-2004 after Aer Lingus came close to financial collapse in 2001.
Aer Lingus would not reveal who commissioned the document, nor would it say who wrote it.
"The paper in question listed a number of issues or circumstances that would arise as a result of items contained in the proposed business plan," said Mr Sharman's letter.
"It was not a list of proposed management actions and the company rejects completely any suggestion that it either had then, or has now, a policy of 'making life difficult' for its employees. It was always the position that no change would be implemented without the involvement and agreement of the unions and employees."
But Siptu and Impact, who represent most staff, said they recognised each of the "push factors" described in reports about the document as "the key" to driving applications for the voluntary redundancy scheme.
These included: tedious training for some pilots; the lack of availability of a flexible working arrangements for cabin crew; and a reference to the abolition at an earlier date of a special bus service for cabin crew who worked unsociable hours.
"That's all been attempted in the past year. It's a very accurate account about the tactics that have been used," said Michael Landers of Impact, who represents the airline's pilots.
Michael Halpenny of Siptu said: "Certainly as far as the 'tip on the shoulder' is concerned, I've spoken to a few people this morning and that apparently has happened to them."
Memo to business: human talent is real source of competitive advantage: page 16
