Aer Lingus pilots are to strike for 48 hours next week, claiming that a move to the airline's new hub in Belfast will see them employed on less favourable terms and conditions than they have in Dublin.
In a statement this evening, the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) branch of the Impact trade union said 480 pilots in its membership will strike on Tuesday August 21 stand Wednesday 22 nd.
The move is likely to cause widespread disruption to transport in and out of Ireland if it goes ahead.
"The strike has been called in response to Aer Lingus proposals to employ pilots at its new Belfast base on pay and terms and conditions of employment that are less favourable than at the existing Aer Lingus base in Dublin," the statement said.
"The pilot positions were advertised on the airline's website today and the company has confirmed to the union that it does not intend to honour existing collective agreements for pilots based in Belfast."
Pilots met at Dublin Airport this evening to discuss the new terms and conditions.
IALPA president, Captain Evan Cullen said that the move by Aer Lingus was "a flagrant breach of its collective agreements and of solemn commitments made by the airline to its employees in advance of last year's stock market flotation".
In a statement he added: "We are not going to allow Aer Lingus treat its Belfast based pilots as 2nd class citizens who can be paid less and treated worse than their colleagues in Dublin. Aer Lingus has freely entered into collective agreements that cover all pilots employed by the airline and we just want the company to honour its commitments."
Michael Landers, assistant general secretary of Impact told ireland.comthat pilots had this evening voted to activate a ballot taken in June in relation to industrial action over new terms and conditions at Belfast.
He said the unions had earlier met with Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion and the company's head of human resources.
He said the pilots had approached the company and sought discussions and assurances that their existing terms and conditions would be honoured in contracts to operate out of Belfast. However, the company had not given such assurances, he said.
Mr Landers said the pilots were still not sure exactly how the terms and conditions of employment at the Belfast hub - the airline's first outside the Republic - would differ.
However, he said the pilots would not be allowed to join the existing pension fund, for example.
"We are available for discussions," Mr Landers said.
Aer Lingus had no immediate response to the announcement by the pilots' union but is expected to issue a statement later.