Fórsa has today issued ballot papers to Aer Lingus cabin crew, who are to vote on management proposals for sweeping changes to working conditions. The postal ballot will take one week, and Aer Lingus management will be informed of the outcome on Monday 22nd June.
Fórsa officials said the scope of the proposals, which are effectively an alternative to lay-offs and a further significant pay cut to 30% of pre-coronavirus crisis rates, meant that it could not be accepted on behalf of workers without a ballot.
Fórsa said that, if implemented, the measures would be in place until February 2022. The union said it was entirely reasonable to allow those affected one week to read the detail and express their views.
A union spokesperson said: “The Fórsa Cabin Crew Branch committee met at the weekend and arrived at the reasonable conclusion that it did not have the authority to accept changes of the scale proposed without consulting the individuals who must live with the outcome.
“In particular, there was a strong feeling that it was neither right nor safe to accept a proposal that requires individuals to take on significant long-term debt to the company – in the form of paying back wages received for shifts not worked over a substantial time period – without the consent of the people concerned.
The union has not made a recommendation on how to vote. But its ballot literature makes it clear that the alternative to this package is lay-offs and further reductions in pay.
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