Aer Lingus cabin crew vote for industrial action

DUBLIN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Cabin crew at Aer Lingus (LSE: AERL.L - news) have voted to take industrial action in a row over rostering and job cuts and will meet in the coming days to decide whether to go on strike, their union said on Monday.

The crew, represented by the IMPACT trade union, voted 91 percent in favour of the action on Monday, seeking to protect 87 jobs which the union said would be lost as a result of outsourcing cabin crew for transatlantic flights. It also accused the airline of breaching existing agreements with staff.

"This is the latest in a succession of ultimatums and unnecessary coercive actions by Aer Lingus management which are designed to bully its staff into submission," IMPACT said in a statement.

"The cabin crew branch has said that this development underlines the urgent need to defend staff by taking industrial action, up to and including strike action if necessary."

Aer Lingus, which is due to issue a trading update on Tuesday, said it had no immediate comment as it had not yet been notified of any industrial action.