what is the relevant legislation

AnRothar

From the RTE website over the Pilots strike ballot.

However, Aer Lingus questioned the legitimacy of the vote, which was conducted electronically.

Under what grounds were/are they querying the initial result?

28064212

Why do you think there would be relevant legislation? They aren't saying the vote was against the law

AnRothar

From the RTE website quoted above it says that Aer Lingus management are questioning the "legitimacy" of the ballot.

To question the legitimacy of something you would assume that there is some legal basis, either real or imagined.

Hence my question as to what basis Aer Lingus Management would make this claim.

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122269476#Comment_122269476

There's more than one meaning to the word legitimate: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legitimate, e.g.

2a: being exactly as intended or presented : neither spurious nor false

I don't believe Aer Lingus are raising a legal issue here.

AnRothar

I don't believe Aer Lingus are raising a legal issue here.

The reporter on the news now indicates that Aer Lingus a Management "may" (my interpretation) have concerns over the paper ballot.

Well then what grounds do they have for their concerns if not legal ones?






28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122270267#Comment_122270267

I don't know, the news report doesn't specify. Maybe they think people who aren't members of the union voted, or that there's a software error, or that the results weren't reported correctly. However, there's nothing to suggest they have raised a legal issue.

If my boss asks me to do a complete inventory of all stock held by the company, and 5 minutes later I email him a spreadsheet and say we have exactly 5,000 units of widget A and 7,000 units of widget B, the boss might well question the legitimacy of my report. That doesn't mean they're saying I did something illegal.

coylemj

They are questioning the 'legitimacy', not the 'legality' of the ballot. Big difference. The latest report on the RTE website now says that the 'validity' of the poll is in question. In response, the pilots' union IALPA said that, rather than argue the issue in court, they would hold a paper ballot and that 'there was no question about the integrity of the vote'.

Integrity, Legitimacy, Validity - nobody has yet suggested that the ballot was Illegal. I think this is a PR battle as much as anything else.

Over the weekend, management 'expressed concerns' about the speed of the paper ballot. Even though polling stations in Dublin and Cork were open for all of 72 hours, from Friday morning to this (Monday) morning.

If management have a legal basis for questioning the ballot, you can be sure they will be in the High Court before long, looking for an injunction if/when the union calls a strike. And the union will know that if the strike is deemed illegal by the courts (because proper procedures were not followed), they will be sued by the airline for lost revenue.

rock22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122269476#Comment_122269476

The Industrial Relations act 1990 ( and others) set out criteria required for a ballot. {Pat II, Section 14)

I would imagine that Aer Lingus are being directed from London in trying to question the rights of workers rather than dealing with the actual pay dispute.

I believe the first objection was to the nature of the ballot, being apparently an electronic ballot (I think) rather than a paper ballot. Sensibly the Union decided to redo the ballot rather than spend days , or even weeks, in court arguing about the meaning of the wording in the aCT.

Now they are questioning the speed of the ballot.

The actual act specifies a secret ballot but does not demand a paper ballot. Nor does it argue about the time it should take.

cml387

Given that a greater percentage of pilots voted in a paper ballot for a strike, it seems that either there was an issue with the electronic vote (although not in a way that would favour the company), or it just p.o 'ed the pilots who were wavering. I know which I believe.

coylemj

There are no legal issues here, this is a simple PR battle being fought out in the media with the spin department of IAG having a go at the union at every turn.

We're led to believe that this industrial unrest has already led to an additional Airbus that was to go to the Aer Lingus fleet being diverted to another IAG airline. Could they go for the nuclear option and threaten to withdraw some of the Heathrow slots from Aer Lingus?