Aer Lingus always give passengers the option to change flights or get a full refund, they usually don't do this until last ditch talks are over. We are currently in those talks and if they end without agreement and the strike is confirmed expect Aer Lingus to put the options up on the website.
Yay for Aer Lingus then. Let's bake them a cake
It's still not much good for the passengers with hotel bookings/business trips/holidays/weddings/etc etc etc to get to who are being left in limbo.
As I said, should EI leave it until Thursday or Friday to announce this, it leaves the passengers up the creek, without a paddle. It'll be impossible for people to get through to EI should they need to and damned expensive to get alternative tickets with other carriers. Never mind the mess that people mid-trip may end up in.
Time for them to bite the bullet, end passengers uncertainties and be a bit proactive for once. I can't see them generating much goodwill by doing the living out the first scenario I described. Heads-in-sand do nothing to win favour - even the website blatantly ignores the impending trouble and lets people book away for the potentially troublesome days without so much as a nod towards the fact they may not be able to fly on those days..