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Updated 4.20pm
FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER Charlie Flanagan has said that the potential sale of the government’s 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus is “a very serious and difficult decision” that will require careful consideration from the government.
Ministers are remaining tight-lipped about their own views on the potential sale of the airline to IAG as an interdepartmental group considers the proposed offer from the company headed by Irishman Willie Walsh.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin today, Flanagan said it was important that Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe be “given the opportunity to amass all the information”.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said that the issue is “clearly high stakes from the country’s point of view”.
“I think the calm approach that Paschal is taking in assessing the issues carefully reflects the right approach for the government to take on an issue that clearly is high stakes from the country’s point of view and on which there are legitimate points of view expressed,” he said.
“We need to make a decision based on the best possible information in the interests of the country and thats what Paschal and the government will do.”
Earlier, the IMPACT trade union, which represents 1,750 Aer Lingus staff, distanced itself from remarks that suggested that staff at the airline support a sale to IAG.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week show yesterday, secretary of the company’s Central Representative Council Myles Worth said that staff were broadly in favour of a sale of the airline.
However, Impact’s national secretary Matt Staunton disagrees and has written to incoming Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh, distancing the union’s membership from the comments.
The letter reads:
Dear Mr. Kavanagh
I write on behalf of Impact with 1750 members in Aer Lingus-by far the biggest union in the airline-representing Pilots, Cabin Crew, and administrative managerial staff in the company.
We wish to distance ourselves from points made by the Secretary of the companies Central Representative Committee today on RTE Radio.
The points made, particularly those that purport to reflect that the majority of staff in the company and their trade unions were in favour of the proposed IAG takeover of Aer Lingus, were not authorised by us and are in fact far from the case.
IMPACT still asserts that this takeover is bad for Aer Lingus staff, threatens their jobs, and the connectivity assurances stated publically are bad for Ireland. We hope to discuss these with you next week.
Yours sincerely,
Matt Staunton
Other unions have not yet made a public declaration on their position, but it has been reported that the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association has distanced itself from Worth’s comments.
- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell
First published 9.06am
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Well I’m sure there both right! Staff as in executives and senior managers want the sale because they will cash in big time and I’m sure some front line staff want to sell there shares with the sale too.
Tho Id be sure a lot of staff of the ground don’t want the sale as last time Willie was in charge he wanted to outsource 1800 of them.
Better to keep the 1800 jobs, continue to make unsustainable losses and close the airline down?
Government have no place running industry. EI need a strategic partner or will just eventually disappear.
Jason the company is profit making so I don’t know where your unsustainable losses are coming from
Stupid comment Jason, go away you fool. Aer Lingus is and has been profitable for more years then not the last 30yrs exceptions being post 9/11 for few years and Ireland’s financial crash 2008. Ryanair was probably airline in the world to make profits post 9/11.
Well done guissepe. Name calling, good argument. But here’s a few actual facts for you. Since 2001 EI have had accumulated loses of 526€ million and accumulated profits of 425€ million. So a net loss of approx 100€ million. If willy Walsh had not restructured and cut jobs EI would not exist today, in fact, the current management team are looking for more redundancies. IAG would be a good fit for EI. Governments cannot rub airlines; look at Alitalia and Lot for recent examples. Or sabena and Iberia too.
If I’m wrong, or you disagree, fair enough but to resort to name calling and Telling people to go away reflects more on you than me.
All boils down to big money lobs for the boys!
You are a fool Jason with the sweeping untrue first comment you made and telling you to go away made you come back with a better and more accurate post didn’t it. Aer Lingus is profitable and sustainable now that’s all that matters as a Plc and is delivering a dividend to shareholders. Any losses made between 2001 and 2006 when Aer Lingus was privatised are irrelevant now to shareholders. It’s been a good employer in the state for a very long time and those wages are spent locally and so support other businesses and jobs probably including your own. I agree with you Willie made changes in Aer Lingus making it more sustainable tho the major credit has to go to the out going CEO Mr Mullier*.
If the take over is complete, who is going to foot the bill for the job loses? It is better to keep Aer lingus as is.
Local economy will foot the bill I’d say Joseph….. less money spent in it = more job losses….
The government saying in one hand jobs are a priority then loosing jobs by selling to AIG causing redundancies. I know Willie Walsh has openly said there would be job loses tho other “good jobs” created. My problem with that from Willie is what’s his vision of wages for these “good jobs” ? Minimum wage ?
Obviously Pat Rabbitte was sent by his Master Enda and iPhone Joan to soften up the Unions !
These Labour – Stickies want their 30 pieces of Silver – before they lose their Seats in Dáil Éireann.
Obviously…..
What they are doing here is using the Unions in such a way that the Govt will not have to take sole repsonsibility for the deal. The Unions are either greedy or just plain stupid if they don’t see this (with the exception of those who will benefit handsomely and who want to get thier hands on the loot at the first available opportunity)
Just bleeding sell, such a backward country!
if selling it annoys the unions well thats reason enough to sell it :D
Mrgillhouley – Are you mitching from Primary School again – Your Mammy will ground you bigtime for that and you are on your Daddy’s PC again without his permission , Hahahahahahaha!
Kerry = SF/IRA troll spokesperson (?)…….
Will Derbylight – The Alter Ego name of Mrgillhouley – Hahahahahahaha
Blueshirts getting veerrrrrry nervous these days ! Labour Supporters simply searching for the lifeboats !
Roll on- The General Elections- roll on !
he shinnerbots are in free fall, FG Ard Fheis have caused the shinnerbots have a 404 error, all it means is we get to laugh at them more than usual :D
It’s gas they way siptu are throwing shapes with only 25% of the airline left in state hands!!! The time to fight was pre 2006 when the state owned 100%.
They allowed my last job in Irish Ferries to be sold of also. As long as the new low paid employees sign up to siptu, they don’t give a shi# about decent terms and conditions.
What’s this got to do with the union? This is about a deal to buy a company, that’s it are all BA staff and Iberia staff being represented on this deal ? Let the staff and union of Aer Lingus get involved if it comes to lay offs. We have already seen what the unions did when they moved ftom T1 to T2 an illegal redundancy package as there were no redundancies happening. And the tax bill paid by Aer Lingus even though the staff got the payouts. Unions would not try to pull that one on private companies that move premises on the same campus.
The unions have a right to speak for their staff in any takeover bid as the security of jobs is always an important question during a buyout. They may not have any executive decision-making powers in this bid but the staff have every right to be heard.
Whether the board actively listens or not is a different question.
No they won’t. And why should private companies give a damn what Unions say or want?
yeah, i don’t know why people want unions , after all rich people want whats best for everyone, right ?
Well, considering the fact that a company is entirely reliant on their staff actually working and not striking I’m sure they care to some extent what their staff thinks. This is especially the case when trying to sell the company as it’s not easy to bargain with a buyer while your staff are striking.
Really you make profits from your staff ,this airline has yet made another yearly profit carried over 11 million passengers highest ever .Is that achieved through striking staff WAKE UP.
There has been strikes in the past at least 90% of the staff do not wont them .But hay your very first day in aerlingus you are requested to join a union .Look what they are doing right now blocking the sale protecting there own patch and union fees etc .Dont point the finger at the staff unless you know more .
It’s the people’s stake in Aer Lingus not the governments , the government doesn’t own anything and they have no right to sell it .
Should have sold it to RyanAir a few years ago,people may not like Michael O’Leary’s ways of doing things but he knows how to run a business.
Cheap flights to England is good but flights to Europe from Ireland are at least 50% more expensive than UK airports. If they had control of Aerlingus we would be totally screwed.
Selling off the LHR slots to BA, giving the UK network to FlyBe and only keeping the longhaul part of EI. And all for the paltry price of EUR 700M!! Is this your idea of a good plan by Ryanair?
It is very telling that the actual workers at Aer Lingus want the IAG link-up to proceed, but the union barons oppose it. The reason why union barons are opposing this consummation with IAG, to the detriment of those who actually work for the airline, is because the barons want to maintain Aer Lingus as their little fiefdom. The biggest losers from this 1970′s-style unionist fiefdom mentality are the workers, Aer Lingus customers and ultimately the airline itself which will go bust.
Amazement the Irish government have not got a glue ,this is a good opportunity for Aer lingus to expand as ever business requires to grow .
As an employee of Aer lingus this government will not support this airline to help it grow.Ryanair should never have be allowed to buy into aer lingus which choked any expansion .now the government showing concern,the only thing is they think of themselves .their 25.1% does not provide any guarantees
Jason won’t be happy.
The WILL of the IMF…
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