We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
AN IRISH INDUSTRIAL relations expert has said that Aer Lingus will have to be “very careful” in offering a settlement to pilots in their pay dispute, as agreeing to a big pay deal while under pressure could see other staff taking action, and cause complications for multi-airline owners IAG.
Liam Doherty, an industrial relations consultant with a PhD in conflict management and dispute resolution, said that other airlines that have agreed to hefty pay increases when under intense pressure due to industrial action have gone on to experience further strikes from ground staff and cabin crew, including Lufthansa in recent years.
Doherty explained that as part of their work to rule – which is a form of industrial action that trade unions have been undertaking for decades – pilots will not work overtime, answer calls outside of working hours, rejecting changes to their rosters, and not undertaking other “discretionary” work activities that are not clearly set out as part of their contract.
“It basically means they will work to the rules of their contract, and will do no more than that. It is a limited form of industrial action designed to minimise the cost to the employee, while maximising the disruption caused to the employer,” he said.
Aer Lingus pilots who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (the IALPA, a division of Fórsa) are commencing work to rule action next Wednesday, indefinitely.
They are asking for a 24% increase in pay, which the union says is in line with the rate of inflation since 2019. It has also noted that Aer Lingus has increased their profits by 400% to €255m last year.
Aer Lingus offered a pay increase of 9.5% last month, which was rejected.
The airline has said that the coming industrial action will result in disruption to its customers and employees. It also added that it has requested further services from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), which the IALPA also rejected.
Doherty said that as this dispute has dragged on for two years, and has been through an internal tribunal, the WRC, and the Labour Court, it is hard to see how the solution will come about, but it’s likely that a resolution will be reached in the coming weeks and all out strike action will be avoided.
Aer Lingus will be looking at all its options right now, including contracting in planes with different crews manned by other organisations – an option that might not even be open to it.
“There is one option here for the airline, where it says that it cannot accept this level of uncertainty, and it decides to shut up shop in the short term if it decides that operating through the work to rule isn’t possible – that’s highly unlikely in this context, because thousands of customers would be impacted,” Doherty said.
Doherty explained that “informal contact” between the teams will be being made right now and in the coming days, but that this is not a case of “big personalities” facing off with each other – as was the case with Ryanair owner Michael O’Leary and IALPA former president Evan Cullen – or a Government Minister making a dramatic intervention.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald today called on Ministers Peter Burke and Eamon Ryan to get involved and intervene to ensure a resolution is reached in the next seven days.
“A minister will not be getting involved in this, it is a private sector pay dispute, albeit one with a big public impact. Though Aer Lingus and the IALPA would not say no to a meeting, it won’t be what moves the dial,” Doherty predicted.
“These aren’t the Bertie Ahern days, he was a [Minister for Labour] who would get involved in these kinds of disputes.
“This is about the IALPA pursuing a pay deal they have sought for the last 22 months. Unfortunately as we are coming into the holiday season, the timing could not be worse for the airline,” Doherty said.
The industrial relations expert added that the union needs to make sure it does not end up “overreaching”.
“Right now, with no picket line, it’s hard for anyone to blame the pilots. Work to rule is the first line of action, and it can be added to with limited days of action, to turn up the pressure on Aer Lingus, but pilots, though well-paid, have bills to pay, and they aren’t voting with their feet and going to other airlines at this stage – so this needs to be finely balanced,” Doherty said.
Ultimately, the next steps will depend on Aer Lingus making a “judgement call”, he added.
Whether that will be to offer a better pay deal, or to endure the work to rule action, there will be consequences for the airline.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
So all of two days of good weather.
@macdara powell: It’s rained once this month here in Cork. We’ve done ok even if it isn’t very warm.
We all have to remember it’s Ireland we are living in not Spain things are uncertain just like the weather so be better get used to it cause it not going to change
So Monday looks good, but uncertain after that ! Talk about click bait.
So much for the new revenge porn legislation. Suspended sentence! This country is a joke. No empathy or consideration of the trauma this caused to the injured party. Reporting sexual crime is a waste of time here
@DCQ: The trauma to the injured party was just the same. She didn’t know he wouldn’t do it if he had the video/photos. Justice failed her. An example should have been set to deter others Theres obviously no deterrent if you are bluffing.
It’s going to be a tough few days I’m the heat, take precautions everyone. Plenty of water and factor 50, with plenty of naps during the hottest parts of the day.
@Sean Money: If you nap, you will miss it !
No uncertainty about the weather in Sicily at the moment. Just lots of sun
Thank the baby jesus that cold wind has stopped!
Yeah guess should nt bother with Spain so . Never mind cost here. Weather being brutal typical but alway s netflix
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say