CABIN CREW AT Aer Lingus have voted 75% to 25% to reject proposals that would see sweeping changes in their working conditions. 

Trade union Fórsa, which represents workers at the airline, said that the result – on an 82% turnout – was a vindication of the decision to bring the issue to a ballot. 

Aer Lingus had already withdrawn the proposals after it said that the trade unions representing staff had failed to meet a deadline for acceptance. 

On Friday, the airline announced that there would be 500 jobs lost at Aer Lingus as a result of the impact of Covid-19. 

The company said the Covid-19 pandemic is having a “catastrophic effect on the aviation industry”. 

“A company like Aer Lingus, which is currently receiving hundreds of thousands of euro from the public purse, should be ashamed of its treatment of staff across the airline,” a Fórsa spokesperson said. 

“Cabin crew and all the company’s employees understand the difficulties that Aer Lingus and the entire aviation industry is going through. They want to play their part in helping the airline through this period, but they are being treated with disdain by their management,” they added. 

The union said that the ballot demonstrated “the need for a new approach from the company, and a new engagement between the airline and its unions”.

The Aer Lingus proposals would have seen reforms for non-pilot grades, which staff said would have left many “in significant debt” to the airline.