This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Aer Lingus trade unions change stance on BA-owner's takeover
Sorry - this page has been removed.
(about 17 hours later)
A trade union group representing Aer Lingus workers has reversed its position and said it would now back a takeover approach by the owner of British Airways.
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason.
Aer Lingus’s board recommended the €1.4bn (£1bn) offer from International Airlines Group last month, subject to the Irish state selling its 25% stake, but political and trade union opposition has been significant.
The best option, I suspect, is to do business with Willie Walsh and IAG
For further information, please contact:
Aer Lingus’s central representative council (CRC) – a group of staff representatives from the company’s trade unions – said that a sale could have a devastating effect on employment, leading to up to 1,200 job cuts.
However, it said it had changed its stance after IAG’s Dublin-born chief executive Willie Walsh, who began his career as an Aer Lingus pilot, told a parliamentary committee in Dublin that job cuts would be minimal and be far exceeded by new roles as it expands Aer Lingus’s fleet.
“The danger of this going away is that the company could eventually go into a downward spin and who knows going forward what would happen if that was the case,” CRC secretary Myles Worth told RTE.
“There doesn’t seem an immediate threat to the company, but if this bid was to fail and the share price goes down, there’s a likelihood that the new CEO would have to put together a very aggressive cost-cutting plan.”
Senior government ministers have said they are not yet convinced on the merits of selling Aer Lingus as a government-appointed group prepares a report on its options. Resistance is especially strong among members of the junior coalition partner, the Labour party, ahead of tough elections next year.
But one senior member of the party, which has close trade union links, said that the state should sell.
“Before we heard from Walsh, my tentative disposition was not to sell,” Pat Rabbitte, a former Labour leader and minister before a reshuffle last year, wrote in the Sunday Business Post newspaper.
“I appreciate that IAG may not seem the best option for government colleagues (but) the best option, I suspect, is to do business with Willie Walsh and IAG.”
