Expatica news

Ryanair proposes mediation in pilot strikes row

Ryanair proposed Friday third-party mediation as its Irish pilots walked out for a fourth day, while Spain-based pilots vowed to sue Europe’s biggest no-frills airline over contract “irregularities”.

The Irish carrier scrapped 24 flights out of 300 to and from Ireland on Friday in response to the strikes, affecting 3,500 passengers, all of whom have been rescheduled or refunded, the company said.

A fifth day of wider industrial action is planned next week and two meetings with the Irish public service trade union Forsa have failed to resolve all the differences.

“Ryanair now feels the only way to introduce common sense is by way of third party mediation,” its chief people officer Eddie Wilson said in a statement.

The Irish pilots, who took three days of industrial action last month, are demanding better working conditions.

However, the dispute has escalated since Ryanair announced plans last week to move planes from Dublin to Poland, which could cost 300 jobs, including 100 pilots.

On Thursday, pilots warned there would be a fifth day of strikes on August 10, when the airline’s Belgian and Swedish pilots will also walk out.

Pilots in Germany and the Netherlands are considering joining in.

Unrest surfaced at Ryanair following a planning mix-up in September 2017 which led to 20,000 flights being cancelled.

The crisis led to a U-turn at the airline, which started negotiations with trade unions in several countries.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary waived his hefty yearly bonus, according to the airline’s annual report out Monday.

Ryanair condemned the planned fifth day of strikes.

“This fifth strike notice by Forsa is irresponsible, unwarranted and is disrupting customers and (a way of damaging) Ryanair’s business,” Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said in a statement.

– Spanish pilots’ union sues –

Meanwhile in Spain, the SEPLA pilots’ union said it filed a lawsuit at Spain’s top-level National Court after a year of negotiations with Ryanair to employ its members under Spanish rather than Irish legislation failed to bear fruit.

“Ryanair’s refusal to recognise SEPLA and to apply the Spanish labour legislation to its pilots operating in Spain forces the union to use the judicial route to achieve this objective,” it said.

Founded 33 years ago in Dublin, the airline boasts lower costs per passenger than its competitors.

But employees have long slammed their working conditions.

Chief among complaints of workers based in countries other than Ireland is the fact that Ryanair employs them under Irish legislation, arguing most of its employees work on board Irish planes and are therefore covered by Irish law.

But staff counter that this creates huge insecurity for them, blocking their access to state benefits in their country and stopping them from applying for mortgages.

Last month, a Dutch appeals court ruled that Ryanair employees who are based in the Netherlands were covered by Dutch law.

The airline had also until recently refused to recognise unions, but is gradually doing so as pressure increases.

“The recognition of trade unions and the regularisation of the situation of pilots are not incompatible with efficient management in a low-cost company,” SEPLA argued.

“We have examples such as Norwegian or easyJet, companies that hire their pilots based in Spain under the legislation of the country.”

Ryanair refused to say anything on the lawsuit, saying it did not “comment on rumour or speculation.”

burs-rjm/dt/rl