Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International) will implement layoffs and cut the salaries and working hours of remaining employees to 30% of pre-Covid-19 levels, CEO Sean Doyle told staff in a video message on the evening of June 15, blaming unions for missing a deadline to accept the reforms, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported.
Not all unions had accepted the IAG International Airlines Group subsidiary's Covid Crisis Recovery Plan by the end of the working day on June 15, and as a result the plan's proposals had lapsed. The deadline was already an extension of a process that should have concluded last week, he argued.
“Aer Lingus will now proceed with the planned layoffs and further reductions to working hours and pay that were previously communicated,” he said, all of which are “absolutely required in the context of the unprecedented crisis that we face.”
Cabin crew union Fórsa insisted it would take until June 22 to complete a ballot of members, it said in a statement during the day on June 15.
The scale of the proposals “meant that it could not be accepted on behalf of workers without a ballot,” the union said, explaining that if implemented, the measures would be in place until February 2022 and that it was “entirely reasonable to allow those affected one week to read the detail and express their views.”
Fórsa has since said it is pressing ahead with the vote.
The Dublin-based Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU) said it was unable to stage a ballot due to time pressure and public health issues but opined that the plan was the best possible outcome in the current conditions.
The airline has already warned of some redundancies, including at Shannon, and has halved the pay and hours of most staff while also tapping the Irish government's Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.
