Aer Lingus cabin crew have resoundingly rejected proposed changes to their working conditions that were aimed at preventing lay-offs and pay cuts.

The Fórsa trade union balloted its cabin crew members on the proposals, even though the airline had already withdrawn them.

Aer Lingus had demanded an answer to the proposals last Monday; however, the union warned that the deadline did not give it time to ballot members.

The airline then withdrew the proposals and announced plans to cut 500 jobs and introduce further pay cuts.

Meanwhile, Fórsa went ahead with its ballot – with 75% of its cabin crew members rejecting the proposals.

A spokesperson for the union said the plan would have left many workers “in significant debt to the company.”

“A company like Aer Lingus, which is currently receiving hundreds of thousands of Euro from the public purse, should be ashamed of its treatment of staff across the airline,” said the spokesperson/

“Cabin crew and all the company’s employees understand the difficulties that Aer Lingus and the entire aviation industry is going through. They want to play their part in helping the airline through this period, but they are being treated with distain by their management.”

The union said the proposals would have seen pay kept at 50% of its normal rate even for staff that worked less than half their normal hours. It said anyone who was overpaid in this manner would have to repay the money to the airline later.

“The company’s actions over the last ten days have shown a total disregard for staff,” said the Fórsa spokesperson.

“Management has sought to deny a voice to the people affected by its proposals, with the laughable suggestion that a one-week ballot process would jeopardise a package that will be in place for more than a year and a half.

“It has agreed far superior proposals for its better-paid staff and, in its impatience, it has announced 500 redundancies and imposed a further pay cut, which means the taxpayer is now footing most or all of its pay bill.”

Fórsa said the ballot result highlighted the need for Aer Lingus to take a “new approach” and re-engage with unions on its plans.

The turnout for the cabin crew postal ballot was 80%.