Aer Lingus holds it breath on deal for industrial peace

Disruptive industrial action by pilots in a long-standing dispute with Aer Lingus should finally draw to a close today as a ballot over a recommended 17.75% pay rise concludes. Members of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, which had been looking for closer to 24% in what they claimed was an inflation-offsetting pay claim, have been voting since Thursday of last week on the proposals pieced together by the Labour Court to resolve a work to rule and strike action that saw the travel plans of more than 85,000 passengers disrupted as close to 600 flights were cancelled over three weeks. Coming in the middle of the airline’s peak summer season, the dispute has been damaging for Aer Lingus. And it might not be off the hook yet. The consensus is that a majority of the 760 pilots will accept a deal to bring an end to a row that has been festering for close to two years. But other unions in the airline have been examining the terms of the pilots’ deal in detail. Aer Lingus had agreed a pay deal of 12.25% with them. That agreement has a clause allowing those unions to reopen negotiations if any better terms were offered elsewhere in the airline.<br/>