Siptu members at Aer Lingus have voted overwhelmingly for strike action if the company attempts to force through a highly controversial cost-cutting plan. Aer Lingus is seeking to introduce nearly 1,500 job cuts through out-sourcing, voluntary redundancy or early retirement.
However Siptu said that its members at the airline had voted by a margin of 80 per cent in favour of industrial action up to an including full-scale strike action if management attempted to introduce the plan without agreement.
Siptu is expected to serve strike notice on the company over the weekend.
This would allow the union to commence industrial action within seven days if it wished. However this does not mean that strike action will go ahead at that point.
Siptu is seeking the Government and social partners to put in place a new process to try to avert the dispute at the airline in the run-up to Christmas period.
Members of the union also voted by 97 per cent to invoke legislation on collective redundancies invoked after the Irish Ferries dispute as part of its campaign against the cutbacks planned by Aer Lingus.
Aer Lingus did not comment on the ballot result.
However the airline's chief executive told staff in a webcast on Thursday that its plans to introduce the job cuts were "unstoppable".
Dermot Mannion said that the company's financial position had deteriorated significantly over recent months.
He said that while fuel costs had improved, consumer demand had worsened significantly.
The company on Thursday published details of the severance package and early retirement scheme on offer to staff.
It has set a deadline of December 15 for staff to respond to the offer.
However Siptu has advised its members not to respond to what it described as " this attempt to pressurise them into accepting redundancy".