William Grogan
No you can not go on strike and your situation makes it all the more galling that the government are handing money out to unsecured bond holders hand over fist yet ignore your plight and the plight of the thousands of other people who find themselves in a similar situation. Maybe ,when the workers of Aer Lingus stand together and fight for justice in a situation they did not cause ,then too you might get a fair hearing. People MUST stand together and hold a hard line or be swept out of the way . I hope you get a just return eventually.

When you joined Aer Lingus it was a condition of your employment that you join and contribute to the scheme you were given no choice .

In many cases, pension funds are the unsecured bondholders.

Well said Paddy. A lot of S*ite talked by people on subjects they know absoloutely nothing about. The old Irish Malaise I know F-all but have an opinion on everything

William I invested sum of money with AIB and lost approximately 40% over five years and this was during the Tiger era it was the first time I lost out through a bank anywhere in Europe.Sorry you lost your hard earned cash but AIB are useless in managing investments.

Ghandi, they weren’t useless in taking their cut every year.

It hasn’t even been agreed between the parties involved whether this is a defined benefit or a defined contribution scheme. Basically, Aer Lingus and DAA staff need to wake up to the reality that their pensions are no different from their colleagues in the private sector and stop holding the rest of the country to ransom over this issue.

Eileen

You have made a clear accusation against the Management and Administrators of the Pension funds held in Trust for DAA and Aer Lingus employees by suggesting that ….something dirty is afoot here …and you go on to question as to whether the shortfall is due to Company contributions not being made which would be a breach both of Competition and Criminal law.
The best you can manage is to attack me on the basis of what you believe to be my personal financial position of which you know nothing.
Given the outrageous slur on the character and integrity of Pension Fund Trustees I would say that you may have a personal difficulty. On the subject of the implied failure for the Companies to make contributions you will also have a little problem of a legal nature.
As for me I’m just so well used to your battiness I just shrug it off.

Paddy
I am quite comfortable through my own hard work , but I do not ignore or sneer at people ‘s hard luck.
Go on away now Paddy like a good lad and thank your own blessings.

Eileen , I donot believe you have an iota of a idea of what you are writing about. If workers are in a position brought about by non-investment by the airline , of course they can strike. You should wait until the full facts are known before pontificating. These employees are down on their uppers. Do not presume to give that type of advice. If it is a question of bad investments , then the question as to whether it was reckless or not, arises. It seems you are prejudging a lot. Correct me if I am wrong.

paddy get your facts right. people read and believe what they want. be objective . siptu cant be blamed for all the ills in airports etc…

Frank

The demise of these Companies has nothing whatever to do with the collapse of valuations in respect of their common employee pension fund.
The combined contributions to these funds by employers and employees were invested under the control of the Trustees who act on the advice of Pension advisors Independent of the Company.
Many private sector pension funds are in trouble and employers cannot be expected to bankrupt themselves in correcting these positions.

Paddy (Mark) Rodgers
Please do not address me . I have no interest in anything you have to say as you continue to insult me and as proof the journal have removed many of your rude and insulting comments addressed specifically to me.
I am entitled to offer my OPINION as much as you or any one else ,and all I am doing is giving my opinion. You on the other hand seem to think you know every thing about every thing .
So Paddy I take it you have a comfortable pension and are secure for your old age and do not have the worry of doing without even tho deductions have been made for your future security …… This situation in Aer Lingus or ANY company is just NOT Right and yet again it is the ordinary decent hard working person is made to suffer and carry the cost ….
On an up side at least you have learned how to correctly reply to posts :)

So the levy was imposed on public sector workers only – fine – but you’re ignoring the fact that in many private sector companies people were subjected to pay freezes, no bonuses or, even in some cases, pay cuts and redundancies. I don’t want to make this into an argument about public sector vs private sector but I would’ve thought that our automatic sense of entitlement died when the Celtic Tiger was put down?

It’s up to private sector workers to protest and strike like anyone else. Don’t divide, unite with public sector workers.

So Una, you mean like they do in Greece?

Assuming you were responding to me…that’s ‘Stephen’ with a ‘ph’.