FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : AER LINGUS - AND - UNITE / SIPTU DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Duffy Employer Member: Mr Murphy Worker Member: Mr McCarthy |
1. A dispute concerning a 2012 LRC Agreement in respect of staffing levels at Shannon maintenance.
BACKGROUND:
2. This dispute concerns a 2012 LRC agreement in respect of staffing levels at the Aer Lingus Shannon maintenance base. The Union said Aer Lingus is in breach of the agreement while Aer Lingus said less staff were required following the lease of an aircraft under terms that provided external engineering support. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a Conciliation Conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 10th March 2014, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990.
A Labour Court hearing took place on the 22nd April 2014.
UNION’S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The parties and the LRC put a huge amount of work into achieving the agreement in 2012. A central element of the agreement was that 13 people would remain in Shannon in the long term.
2. In 2014 Aer Lingus introduced a Boeing 757 aircraft on its transatlantic routes all to be maintained in a different hanger at Shannon Airport by an outside contracting company while at the same time reducing staff from 18 to 6.
3. This work should be carried out by Aer Lingus maintenance staff rather than sub-contracted out.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. Aer Lingus made a business decision to close the A330 A-Check operation in Shannon in 2012 and an agreement was reached on the implications of this decision for affected staff.
2. Following this agreement Aer Lingus made a commercial decision to expand the transatlantic operation out of Shannon by entering into a "damp lease" agreement. A "damp lease" is a contractual arrangement where the lessor provides the aircraft, full technical and maintenance support and insurance cover but less than the full crew compliment to the lessee.
3. As a result of this agreement the requirement in Shannon for 13 engineering jobs was reduced to 6. The A330 is now based in Dublin and the other 7 engineers are required to work on that aircraft.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is clear that the parties entered into an agreement on foot of proposals from the Labour Relations Commission dated 29thNovember 2012 on the re-configuration of the maintenance operation to a Dublin base. It was agreed that a rotational arrangement would be put in place whereby a maximum of 35 staff could operate between Shannon and Dublin for a period of 15 months. A voluntary exit package was also agreed for those not wishing to avail of this option. In the event 18 workers availed of the rotational arrangement.
The agreement envisaged that by 1stApril 2014 at least 13 maintenance positions would be made available at Shannon to which transferred staff could be redeployed. For reasons that were dealt with in detail in the Company’s submission that commitment was not honoured. Those reasons arose from the conclusion of what is termed as a “damp lease” arrangement with a third party in relation to a B757 aircraft. In effect this means that the supplier of the aircraft rather than Aer Lingus will undertake the line maintenance of this aircraft.
The Union’s primary claim is that the Company provide the positions in Shannon envisaged by the November 2012 agreement by undertaking the maintenance on the B757 aircraft itself. In the alternative the Court was asked to recommend that the voluntary severance scheme put in place by the November agreement remain open until the expiry of the lease on the B757 aircraft.
The Court is satisfied that there is no practical basis upon which the Union’s primary claim could be conceded. However, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, the Court accepts that the Union’s alternative claim has merit and should be conceded.
Accordingly, the Court recommends that the terms set out at Clause ii of the voluntary severance scheme provided for in the LRC proposal of 29thNovember 2012 remain open to all those associated with this claim for the duration of the lease on the B757 aircraft previously referred to in this Recommendation.
In the interests of clarity the Court wishes to emphasise that this Recommendation is made having regard to the exceptional circumstances in which this dispute arose. The Recommendation is confined in its scope to those 18 workers associated with the claim and it is intended to deal with the situation in which the Company is unable to comply with an agreement into which it entered voluntarily and in good faith. This Recommendation is not intended to have any precedent value and should not be relied upon or quoted in advancing any other claims by this or any other group of workers or their trade unions.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Duffy
CR______________________
6th May, 2014.Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Ciaran Roche, Court Secretary.