Caterers' pay protest keeps Aer Lingusplanes onthe ground

Irish airline Aer Lingus cancelled all its flights on Tuesday (17 October) because of continuing industrial action by its catering staff.

For the past two weeks, chefs, catering assistants and cleaning staff at the airport terminal in Dublin have been walking out in protest over low pay (Caterer, 12 October, page 8). More action is planned.

On Tuesday 200 flights and 20,000 passengers were affected by the stoppages.

The company said it expected to lose IR£2m (£1.5m) in revenue for the day.

"The stoppages will beon-going," said Clare Daly, of Ireland's Services, Industrial,Professional & Technical Union, one of the two unions involved.

The international airline has been compensating by loading catering supplies at Heathrow or Amsterdam.

But, according to Daly, the service has not been up to the standard passengers expect.

She said Aer Lingus had been offering passengers food vouchers for meals in the terminal.