Aer Lingus workers narrowly vote in favor of 10 percent pay deal

The deal, brokered and proposed by the Workplace Relations Commission, was recommended for unions to accept.

In exchange for a series of wage increases through 2025, the unions agree to consider wage market conditions, the company’s financial and competitive position and the “need for the company to continuously change and evolve”.

Under the agreement, the unions reaffirm their commitments to current collective agreements and to “provide the flexibility and principles expressed in those agreements”.

While the result isn’t a ringing endorsement of the deal, it will ease the airline’s management after a long period of employee dissatisfaction over pay issues, including the significant cuts they’ve made during the pandemic.

But sources said younger workers in particular, who typically earn lower wages, are more likely to vote against the deal.

The matter was referred to the state industrial relations body in November after a salary offer from the airline of around 2 percent was rejected by the union group, including Siptu and Fórsa. They had said it had “performed far below the expectations” of its employees.