Solution to Aer Lingus row a must, says Breen

AT the time of going to press, the Aer Lingus Shannon-Heathrow service is unaffected by the dispute between the airline and cabin crew over rosters, which has seen flights cancelled at Dublin Airport.

Presently, the airline is not operating transatlantic services from Shannon, while the new Aer Lingus regional flights from Shannon to Britain are staffed by Aer Arann cabin crew, as part of a franchise arrangement.
While services from Shannon have continued so far, Clare TD Pat Breen said it was necessary to find a solution as quickly as possible.
“I have been contacted by many workers from Shannon, who are concerned about it. It’s a very serious dispute and it is coming so soon after the ash crisis and the bad weather at Christmas that saw thousands of flights affected,” Deputy Breen said.
He said it was important that the dispute not hit Shannon. “The Heathrow service operates three times a day and it is very important to the whole Mid-West. I don’t want to see this escalate and to affect Shannon and Aer Lingus shouldn’t be damaged.”
He called for the Minister for Transport to become involved and to find a solution quickly.
In a statement on Wednesday, Aer Lingus announced that five services to and from Dublin were being cancelled and it blamed the current situation on the Impact trade union.
“The sole responsibility for these cancellations and the corresponding disruption to customers’ travel plans, lies with Impact trade union members who continue to take industrial action despite 15 months of negotiation, agreement, clarification, conciliation and binding arbitration.
“So far, 86 cabin crew members have refused to co-operate with the new rosters. Following individual meetings today, 32 of these have been removed from their duties and the Aer Lingus payroll. This process was clearly outlined when Aer Lingus wrote to its cabin crew employees last Thursday, January 13, detailing the new roster arrangements and associated rules.”
The airline also claimed new rosters were in line with best international practice and would achieve 850 flying hours per annum, as agreed under the Greenfield collective agreement.
An Impact spokesperson said the Labour Court should play a role in achieving a resolution.
“We have asked the Labour Court to intervene because we understand that the problem needs to be resolved and because we are confident we have a strong case to put to an independent third party,” they said.
Impact claims attempts are being made to force cabin crew to work 11 hours without a meal break, that management want staff to be obliged to change duties by up to three hours on the day of the duty and by up to four hours the day before a rostered shift. They claim that an existing right to one weekend off work every eight weeks is to go, that the minimum of eight rostered days off a month is to be cut to seven and that cabin crew may be sent to work away from base for 26 days at a stretch.