TEAM Aer Lingus workers have been offered £25 million in return for their co-operation in the sale of the company to new investors. The offer is worth an average of £15,600 for each of TEAM's 1,600 employees.
The sum is intended to cover all claims the workforce has against the parent Aer Lingus Group. This includes compensation for the letters of comfort possessed by about 1,200 TEAM workers guaranteeing them the right to return to the airline.
The offer also covers things like pension rights, loss of travel concessions on Aer Lingus and pay increases forgone over the past three years to return TEAM to profitability. It is expected to show a modest profit this year, two years ahead of schedule.
Aer Lingus wants to sell it as a going concern. At a meeting with the unions yesterday management made it clear it wants to conclude negotiations on the buy-out package before Christmas.
The unions were told that the most likely buyer, another aircraft maintenance company, could "go cold" on the deal if it is not concluded within four weeks. Union leaders made it clear last night that they regarded the £25 million as merely an opening bid.
The Aer Lingus craft group of unions, which represents 75 per cent of TEAM employees, also said it was not prepared to consider any new proposals about the company's future until a long list of outstanding grievances was addressed.
In a letter the group handed to Mr John Behan, the group change and restructuring director of Aer Lingus, at the meeting, the craft unions accused the company of refusing to meet them. Ominously, the letter also said the group wants a review of LRC 14552.
This is the Labour Court recommendation which saved the company from closure in 1994. Under this the unions agreed to greater work flexibility and a pay freeze to return the company to profitability. Management sources said last night that any attempt to turn the clock back to 1994 was "off the wall" and would seal the fate of TEAM.
Officially the company was saying little about yesterday's meeting. However, a spokesman confirmed last night an offer had been made to the unions. "Everything is on the table and today was a useful start to the process," he said.
One area where there was unanimity between unions and management was that the letters of comfort held by 1,200 of the 1,600 TEAM employees could not be dealt with through collective agreements.
After the meeting a spokesman for the craft unions, Mr Eamonn Devoy, of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, said: "The management seemed to accept that the letters are personal to the individuals concerned, but they are asking the unions to sit down and discuss a package."
However, he warned that the commitment in the letters of comfort, issued to TEAM employees when they transferred from Aer Lingus to the new subsidiary in 1990, also provided a guarantee that the company would remain at least 51 per cent owned by the State airline. The unions had no mandate to negotiate this guarantee away, any more than a member's right to return to Aer Lingus, which is also guaranteed by the letters, Mr Devoy said.
He also warned that outstanding grievances over pay, erosion of shop stewards rights in TEAM and other issues would have to be addressed. SIPTU branch secretary Mr Tony Walsh said the unions would be meeting at local level over the next two days to discuss the implications of the offer.