Aer Lingus cabin crew vote again on cuts

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DUBLIN (Reuters) - Cabin crew at Irish airline Aer Lingus <AERL.I> will vote for a second time to decide whether to accept a cost-cutting package, the company said, in a move that could prevent more layoffs or strikes at the carrier. After an initial vote, cabin crews represented by the IMPACT trade union became the only one of five employee groups to reject the plans presented by Aer Lingus management to stop the depletion of its cash reserves.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Cabin crew at Irish airline Aer Lingus will vote for a second time to decide whether to accept a cost-cutting package, the company said, in a move that could prevent more layoffs or strikes at the carrier.

After an initial vote, cabin crews represented by the IMPACT trade union became the only one of five employee groups to reject the plans presented by Aer Lingus management to stop the depletion of its cash reserves.

On March 9, Aer Lingus said it would impose compulsory redundancies for almost a quarter of its 1,000 cabin crew and cut salaries for the rest as a response to the lack of cooperation by IMPACT.

But, as required by law, it started a 30-day consultation period with employees before sacking them.

"The company now awaits the outcome of this re-ballot," Aer Lingus, which has fended off two hostile bids by bigger Irish rival Ryanair , said in a statement after talks at Ireland's Labour Relations Commission.

A negotiated settlement with the union could prevent the kind of strife seen at British Airways , where cabin crew were set to begin a three-day strike this weekend.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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