Lufthansa demands shake-up or 500 will face axe
Wednesday April 08 2009
ALMOST 500 more aviation jobs hang in the balance today after workers at Dublin's Lufthansa aircraft maintenance plant were given an ultimatum to accept new work practices or face closure of the plant.
The development comes as 1,200 staff at fellow Dublin aircraft maintenance plant SR Technics face the axe after the Swiss company announced its withdrawal from the Irish market.
Some 600 workers at SR Technics were let go last Friday ahead of the plant's planned closure in August. Four groups are vying to take over parts of SR Technics' Irish business, but it is understood that none of the proposals involve saving all 1,200 jobs.
Lufthansa Technik Ireland yesterday warned workers that unless they accept a series of changes, the company will not go ahead with a planned €30m upgrade, which is needed to prevent the Dublin operation from becoming obsolete.
The failure to upgrade the plant "will inevitably lead to notice of layoffs and short-week working by the end of this week", the company said in a statement. "This, in turn, will lead to the eventual wind-down of the facility, and the consequent loss of jobs there."
As the 465 workers prepare to vote later today, their unions slammed management for "holding a gun to workers' heads".
The introduction of "hour banks" is understood to be one of the key issues of contention for workers. Lufthansa wants staff to work unpaid extra hours during busy times to build up "hour banks", which can then be cashed in for paid time off in quieter times.
Hour banks were controversially introduced at Lufthansa Technik's sister company, Shannon Aerospace, two years ago, but trade union representative Ian McDonnell yesterday said their imposition in Dublin would represent "a major change outside the norm".
Strategy
Lufthansa also wants to reduce its shift-work premium -- where workers are given extra pay for working shifts rather than the usual working day -- from 20pc to 10pc.
The proposals were discussed at marathon 12-hour talks at the Labour Relations Commission on Monday night.
SIPTU union representative Teresa Hannick acknowledged the company "did improve its proposals slightly" at those talks, but said it "lost the opportunity to agree a strategy the unions could endorse as well".
She also slammed the closure ultimatum subsequently issued, saying Lufthansa Technik "seems to confuse bully-boy tactics with negotiation".
A Lufthansa Technik spokesman declined to respond to the "bully-boy" allegations.
- laura Noonan
