Heightened industrial action at Aer Lingus ‘on the table’ if Labour Court talks break down, warns pilots union

An escalation of industrial action is “clearly on the table” if talks at the Labour Court on Monday between Aer Lingus and the union representing pilots fails to “produce a result”, the president of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) has said. Both sides will return to the court on Monday afternoon in a bid to break the deadlock over the bitter pay dispute at the carrier. It follows five consecutive days of industrial action undertaken by pilots represented by Ialpa, part of the trade union Fórsa, including an eight-hour stoppage on Saturday that forced Aer Lingus to cancel a further 120 flights. Some 500 Aer Lingus pilots marched in the rain around Dublin Airport on Saturday as part of the stoppage. Late last week, both sides accepted an invitation from the Labour Court to return to the table on Monday after a previous round of discussion broke down last Tuesday. A separate round of talks between the two sides collapsed on Thursday after what the pilot body’s president, Cpt Mark Tighe, described as an “escalation” of the dispute by the International Airlines Group (IAG)-owned carrier. Reports over the weekend suggested Ialpa had lowered its pay demand in recent talks but the offer was now off the table following the collapse of those discussions, it is understood.<br/>