It seems likely that a one-day strike by Aer Lingus cabin crew next Friday will go ahead, causing the airline's fleet to be grounded. The action would disrupt over 20,000 passengers.
The strike has been called by IMPACT, which represents over 1,000 of the company's 1,644 cabin crew staff, in pursuit of a long-standing pay claim. It would be the second one-day strike by cabin crew since October.
It is understood the Labour Court asked for the strike to be deferred last Friday when it heard submissions from IMPACT and Aer Lingus on the cabin crew's pay claim.
It was due to hear submissions from SIPTU, which represents the balance of cabin crew, on Saturday. However, SIPTU had to request a deferral because one of its key negotiators was unavailable and it will not be possible for the court to hear the SIPTU submission before tomorrow at the earliest.
The court will not be able to issue a recommendation by Friday and a spokesman for IMPACT confirmed last night that without a recommendation the strike would go ahead. The spokesman said the union had not been requested formally to defer the action.
However, it is understood the position of the court chairman, Mr Finbarr Flood, is that there had been a formal request by the company for a deferral.
It is unusual for a union to refuse to defer action in such circumstances and is all the more significant given that IMPACT is one of the unions that fought hardest to obtain a pay review under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Part of that review included a commitment that unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions would exhaust agreed negotiating procedures before embarking on industrial action.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus said earlier yesterday that it had asked for a deferral of industrial action pending the outcome of the court's deliberations.
He added that IMPACT had been recognised for negotiating purposes on the basis that it would adhere to existing agreements already operating with SIPTU, which had represented all cabin crew up until a few months ago. He said that IMPACT was now in breach of those commitments.
IMPACT says the procedures are ambiguous and there are plenty of precedents for the union's decision.
The dispute comes as 1,500 SIPTU general operatives with in the company ballot on their own pay offer from the Labour Court. The result should be known by Thursday. The operatives include caterers, loaders, transport and aircraft cleaning staff.