Keep the profiteers out
Hands off Aer Lingus!

---

Michael Murphy

The Fianna Fail and PD’s privatisation road show has come to Aer Lingus.

Following on from their recent decisions to sell off the Great Southern Hotels, and the raft of private sector initiatives in the health service, the government have decided to hand over the state airline to some venture capitalist interests for half nothing.

The only "safeguard" to which the government have committed themselves is to retain a paltry 25% so called "golden share," but the reality is that even this will be diluted further on selling.

Despite Bertie Ahern’s talk of a "new dawn" for the airline, the reality of privatisation for Aer Lingus workers is already becoming clear even before the company is sold. Aer Lingus management are proposing a 3% pay cut for Aer Lingus workers to fund the pension deficit which will allow the sale of the company, to which the majority of workers are opposed to!

This will be just the start of a significant programme of job cuts, out-sourcing and attacks on pay and conditions. Aer Lingus workers need look no further than the recent massacre of jobs and working conditions in Irish Ferries. B&I line was the state shipping company but was sold off and eventually became Irish Ferries. When Telecom Eireann was privatised to become Eircom, thousands of workers were ditched from the company.

Irish Sugar PLC will close its last operating plant in Mallow in Cork this month having already ceased production in Carlow last year. Comhlucht Siucre Eireann was privatised and handed over to Greencore in 1991. It operated relatively successfully for nearly 60 years as a state company providing significant direct and indirect employment. Yet only 15 years after it was privatised, it is now to close permanently with a loss of 320 jobs in Mallow on top of the hundreds of others lost in Carlow – this is the real face of privatisation.

Privatisation is part of the "race to the bottom". SIPTU have been very vocal against the privatisation of Aer Lingus but words are not enough, action is needed now. The occupation of the Isle of Inishmore in the Irish Ferries dispute woke people up to the reality of what was happening in that company. The stance of the workers and the support they received forced trade union leaders like Jack O’Connor and David Begg to organise the protests of 150,000 on 9 December. Until the Irish Ferries workers themselves took action, trade union leaders like Jack O’Connor were content to issue "stern warnings" against Irish Ferries management just like he is continuing to do now to the government and Aer Lingus management.

There is a deep mistrust of this government and considerable opposition to the privatisation of a valuable state asset like Aer Lingus. As in Irish Ferries, if Aer Lingus workers took action they would get a huge response from other transport and public service workers who are also under attack. This action could force the government back, particularly with the general election in the next year. The lessons of past privatisations should sound a warning bell to Aer Lingus workers - now is the time to fight.

Aer Lingus Workers Must Fight

---

By Cllr. Clare Daly

At the end of April a SIPTU general meeting of Aer Lingus staff with all politicians invited was effectively boycotted by the government parties, with not a single Fianna Fail or PD TD showing up.

Such is their contempt and arrogance for the workforce that they don’t even pretend to be concerned about the impact that their decision to privatise the company will have on our futures. They are confident that they can brazen out the controversy and escape unscathed to do it all over again next time round with another semi-state.

There are no white knights waiting to rescue Aer Lingus workers. We cannot rely on a technical hitch to slow the government’s plans. The only force we can rely on is ourselves. This is an ideological decision. The privatisation juggernaut is part of the overall race to the bottom that is taking place in workplaces throughout the country. All talk of safeguarding our jobs and terms and conditions of employment into the future is nonsense. The only guarantee we can be sure of is that if the privatisation goes ahead, then as in all other privatised companies, job losses, outsourcing and loss of conditions will follow.

If workers had any doubt about this, then the first meeting with the company to address workers’ concerns should have answered the point. The only concrete proposal was that workers should take a 3% pay cut to fund the pension deficit! Aer Lingus workers cannot afford to sit back. There is no choice but to take action to defend our jobs and conditions.

To date the IMPACT leadership have played a disgraceful role, stating that the ownership issue is a decision for government that really does not concern them. While their members mainly comprise of cabin crew and pilots who would be less at risk of outsourcing than ground staff, there is no doubt that their conditions of employment and job security would take a massive hit with privatisation and failure to oppose it is increasingly being seen by their members as a betrayal of what is necessary.

Meanwhile SIPTU has been very vocal in opposition but has failed to organise any action against the government’s plans or point a way forward for staff. All of the unions continue to sit in "partnership" talks while their "partners" carry on privatising, undermining the belief that they are serious about fighting this agenda.

There is an onus on the unions to go out and give staff the confidence that a real struggle will be waged. The support for Irish Ferries staff last year shows that workers everywhere realise that there is a race to the bottom and are willing to take action to see it halted. That support should be mobilised to halt the sale of Aer Lingus.

As a first step, a meeting should be convened for activists and shop-stewards in all of the semi-states, particularly the three airports and the Great Southern Hotels, and the transport sector in general. Undoubtedly if the government succeed with Aer Lingus, the airport authorities, rail and buses will be next. The calling of a one-day transport strike would be the first step in getting the government to sit up and take notice.

Determined action by French workers forced their government to do a U-turn in the attacks on young workers. This is the only language that will have any impact on government thinking. Such a stance would win widespread support against a weak and hated government. There are no short cuts. The initiative has to be taken in the first instance by Aer Lingus workers.