The executive of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA) has met this evening to consider Labour Court proposals aimed at ending its long-running pay dispute with Aer Lingus.
IALPA said it would not be issuing a recommendation to its members at this time on the deal, which includes a 17.75% pay increase for pilots over a four-year period.
The union has contacted the Labour Court to confirm its understanding of some elements of the recommendation and the IALPA executive will meet again once it has received a response from the court.
It is understood that one of the questions asked by IALPA relates to the wording of proposals on structural changes to pay scales.
It is also understood that the IALPA executive was split on whether to recommend acceptance or rejection, with sources saying that a lot will depend on the response received from the Labour Court.
Once the union issues a recommendation of whether to accept or reject the deal, it will then hold a series of information meetings for members, a process which could last up to five days.
After that, the Labour Court recommendation will be put an electronic ballot of members which will take up to three days.
Yesterday Aer Lingus accepted the recommendation.
The Labour Court has also proposed the ending of 2022 pay scales and recommended that pilots should revert to a single pay scale.
It proposed the scrapping of a crewing agreement on rostering and summer leave and the termination of a debt owed by pilots to the company as part of that agreement.
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IALPA President Captain Mark Tighe said that at this evening's meeting of its executive, a number of questions were raised about their understanding of the document.
"They have legitimate questions about their understanding of some of the phraseology so since the meeting ended we have written to the Labour Court to confirm that our understanding of the written word is correct and we hope to have response soon," Cpt Tighe said.
Industrial action by pilots has so far led to the cancellation of 548 flights up until Sunday 14 July.
Aer Lingus said that the "airline will have to consider the longer-term implications of implementing the recommendation and of this dispute which has been enormously damaging both financially and reputationally".
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Aer Lingus Donal Moriarty said the recommendation from the Labour Court provides for flexibility and productivity changes.
"The main mechanism that the court decided to use was an increase in the term of the agreement from three years to four years," Mr Moriarty said.
"They also recommended that an agreement which provided more flexibility in terms of summer leave come to an end at the end of 2024."
"So that represents a change in terms of productivity and flexibility for 2025, 2026 and indeed beyond," he added.
In its recommendation, the Labour Court noted that despite extensive engagement by the two sides there has been no discernible narrowing of the gap between the parties.
It also warned of the potential for a very grave and unfavourable outcome should a resolution not be found.
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Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes there will be a solution to the dispute, adding that industrial disputes only end after "engagement and compromise".
Speaking on his way into this morning's Cabinet meeting, Mr Harris said that "we've certainly had the engagement" and that he hopes to see a compromise.
The Taoiseach said it would not be helpful for him to express a view on the Labour Court recommendation, but said he hopes IALPA considers it carefully.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke urged IALPA to accept the court's recommendation and ensure the dispute is resolved.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said: "Both the unions and indeed Aer Lingus have a very strong track record of working with our industrial relations machinery to the better and getting disputes resolved".
The minister said it is important to "move on to the next chapter as an island economy again, and for so many vulnerable sectors that really require connectivity, to be at a premium over the summer months ahead".
Additional reporting Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
