| Workers join picket line in Dublin
WORKERS at the British Council in Lower Mount Street in Dublin picketed
outside their offices following a dispute over the imposition of compulsory
redundancy on long-serving staff.
The British Council, which promotes British trade and culture abroad,
is proposing to make three staff redundant at its Dublin office as part
of a restructuring programme.
Commenting on the action, trade union officer Colm Quinlan of Amicus said:
“We have tried to negotiate with the British Council with the assistance
of the Labour Relations Commission to re-instate our members and ensure
that the service they have given the Council is duly rewarded. Offers
of a negotiation have been consistently ignored by the British Council
and their decision to continue with the notice of minimum statutory redundancy
has left us with no option but to strike.”
FLIGHT FIGURES
Aer Lingus carried 2.4 per cent more passengers in April compared with
the same month in 2006, but the percentage of seats filled was lower as
the airline put on more flights.
In April, Aer Lingus carried a total of 779,000 passengers, with short-haul
passengers up 3.3 per cent but long-haul passengers down 3.8 per cent
compared with April 2006.
For the year to date, the airline had 4.9 per cent more passengers, compared
to April 2006. A breakdown shows 1.8 per cent fewer long-haul customers,
while 5.9 per cent more people took short-haul flights.
The load factor which is the percentage of seats filled fell 4.8 points
compared with April 2006 to 78 per cent. For the first four months the
load factor was down 2.8 points to 73.2 per cent.
Overall capacity was 5.7 per cent higher in April 2007, compared to April
2006, with seats on short-haul flights up 10.7 per cent, though long-haul
capacity fell 0.3 per cent.
On an annual basis, capacity was up 7.9 per cent for the year to April
2007. |
