SIPTU threatened with legal action over Aer Lingus pensions row

AER LINGUS HAS threatened SIPTU with legal action if it proceeds with a ballot on industrial action in a dispute over a pension scheme.

The union announced last week that it would begin to ballot staff at the airline and at the DAA, as a long-running dispute continues over a €780 million hole in the ‘Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme’.

SIPTU official Dermot O’Loughlin confirmed to TheJournal.ie this evening that he had received a letter from Aer Lingus management saying that any balloting of staff would be premature and in breach of existing agreements.

The letter calls on the union to halt the vote, and says the airline will take any necessary steps, up to and including legal action, to prevent the ballot from going ahead in any way that would cause “significant commercial damage” to the company.

O’Loughlin said that the union would still be going ahead with the ballot “as per the mandate from our pensions committees”.

The union has already stated that no industrial action will take place over the Christmas period.

Read: Staff at DAA, Shannon Airport and Aer Lingus to hold ballot on industrial action

Read: Former Aer Lingus workers claim discrimination in complaint to Pensions Board