Workers await ballot results
Wednesday March 10 2010
THE future of over 1,000 jobs at Aer Lingus hangs in the balance today as the company and its workers await the delayed result of a ballot of craft workers on the airline's € 97 million costcutting plan. Agreement for the compromise plan has already been secured from pilots, middle-management grads and ground staff but cabin crew have bucked the trend and voted against the cost-cutting proposals.
The last significant section of the company to vote on the issue are the airline's craft workers who were scheduled to report the result of their ballot yesterday (Monday).
But shortly before the results were scheduled to be released union representatives said that the result would be delayed until today ( Tuesday, March 9th), ' due to a technical issue'.
Prior to the balloting of workers across the company last week, the airline's management threatened it would impose 1,100 compulsory redundancies and cut routes if workers did not sign up to the cost-cutting programme. That moved angered unions at the company and is being blamed in part for the cabin crew's rejection of the deal. The delayed ballot result from the craft workers means Aer Lingus may not be able to report its financial results for 2009 as planned today, although a spokesperson for the airline, speaking yesterday, said no decision had yet been made on that.
Reportedly, the airline's financial results will show something of the order of a € 85 million loss for 2009.
- John MANNING
