A Labour Court recommendation that the “general structure” of new pension arrangements at Aer Lingus be accepted is “only one aspect” of the recommendation, according to a union source.
Issued today, the interim recommendation relates to a dispute with employees over how to tackle the €748 million deficit in the pension scheme at the airline.
In November the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and IBEC stepped in to urge staff at Aer Lingus to withdraw plans for industrial action and to allow for a new talks process.
A union source said the recommendation given to both parties today that the general structure of new pension arrangements be accepted was just one aspect of recommendations that also deal with levels of benefits under the new arrangements and time-frames in which matters are to be concluded.
“They’ve recommended several things and that’s only one of them. It wouldn’t be fair to say it represents the totality of the Labour Court recommendation…the Labour Court is certainly not recommending everything that Aer Lingus has proposed,” he said.
He said unions would now consider the recommendations.
The Court says that if final agreement is not reached on January 31st, outstanding matters may be referred back to the Court.
