Airports industrial action threat escalates

The row over proposed industrial action at Shannon Airport next Monday took a new twist this week after Aer Lingus threatened SIPTU it would sue the union for at least €2 million a day in potential losses, if the planned action goes ahead.

 

The dispute over an estimated deficit of between €500 and €600m in the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme, which affects about 220 Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) employees and 100 Aer Lingus staff at Shannon, has deepened following the threatened legal action and a separate DAA High Court action.

In a letter sent to the union on Tuesday, Aer Lingus claimed the row with the union over pensions did not constitute a trade dispute.

It argued that SIPTU, in triggering the planned action, was acting outside the protections set out in industrial relations legislation.
“Accordingly, we must now put you on notice that Aer Lingus will hold SIPTU and all relevant officers, officials and members personally liable in respect of inevitable losses that will be sustained by Aer Lingus by reason of unlawful and unwarranted disruption to its operations caused by the purported industrial action. We estimate that those losses will not be less than €2m per day.”

The union has served notice of industrial action on both Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which runs the country’s three main airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
The union has signalled it would stage staggered two-hour stoppages on a location-by-location basis in both companies from next Monday.

The airline’s claims are disputed by SIPTU, who stated “the issue involved a legitimate trade dispute stemming from Aer Lingus and the DAA walking away from obligations under pension funding entitlement agreements”.

In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, the union stressed thousands of members at the companies faced losing virtually their entire life savings as a result of a funding standard imposed by State authorities.
“All this has been brought about by the imposition of an absurd and ridiculous funding standard by the State authorities,” the union statproposeded.

In a statement, Aer Lingus rejected SIPTU’s claim that it is in breach of collective agreements and called upon SIPTU to call off the planned industrial action.

The company continues to engage with the relevant parties under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission to find an appropriate solution to the funding issues in the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme.
“In this context, we find it completely unacceptable that SIPTU has unilaterally initiated steps to stage industrial action. Aer Lingus believes these steps to be unlawful as they breach well-established resolution arrangements and have already outlined this to SIPTU officials in writing.

“We call upon SIPTU to call off the planned industrial action and to take all steps within its power to avoid disruption to Aer Lingus’ customers in circumstances where the LRC process is still underway.
“Aer Lingus will update customers in the coming days,” said a company spokesman.

In a separate development, the DAA secured High Court permission to seek an injunction on Friday against SIPTU to prevent any work stoppages. Lawyers for the DAA said the action could close the three airports if it goes ahead.