Ryanair pilots row is on course for mediation as talks stall

RYANAIR has indicated that it will accept thirdparty mediation in a bid to resolve a deepening row about terms and conditions with its Irelandbased pilots.

The airline proposed Kieran Mulvey, former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, as the third party.

The Fórsa trade union, which had called for such mediation, welcomed Ryanair’s response and said it would recommend it to pilots.

Pilots staged their fourth oneday strike yesterday, with their union, Fórsa, scheduling another for Friday, August 10, the same day as similar strikes by Ryanair pilots in Belgium and Sweden.

It will be the fifth strike by pilots since July 12.

Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers agreed to recognise unions for the first time late last year, but negotiations have since faltered.

It has seen strikes in some of its biggest markets including Ireland, Spain and Italy as it struggles to reach collective labour agreements with trade unions.

Around a quarter of Ryanair’s 350 pilots based in Ireland have taken part in a series of one-day strikes. Around 30 pilots and their supporters picketed the airline’s headquarters at Swords in Dublin yesterday with placards and banners.

The airline has blamed pilots from Aer Lingus who, it says, are using the strike to their advantage to cause the maximum damage to Ryanair.

The airline said in a statement: ‘It is quite clear that this agenda is being driven by, amongst others, an Aer Lingus pilot, Captain Evan Cullen, who appears to be controlling the Fórsa agenda.’

Ryanair’s Chief People Officer Suggestion: Kieran Mulvey Eddie Wilson said: ‘Given the non-engagement by Fórsa, and the manipulation of the discussions by certain Aer Lingus pilots to ensure that no meetings take place, that unsuccessful strikes keep repeating, Ryanair now feels the only way to introduce common sense is by way of third-party mediation, and is suggesting Mr Kieran Mulvey, formerly of the Workplace Relations Commission.

‘We now call on Fórsa to accept Mr Mulvey as a third-party mediator, an initiative Fórsa have repeatedly called for in recent weeks.’

Aer Lingus declined to comment on the Ryanair allegations about interference.

Last month, the airline criticised the strikes as unnecessary and warned that, if they continue, there could be job losses.

But Fórsa said the striking workers continue to seek a ‘fair and transparent’ way of governing base transfers and related matters which they say is common practice in the industry.

‘The airline’s escalation of the dispute when it threatened to sack 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew, or transfer them to Poland, led to a predictable hardening of resolve among its staff,’ Fórsa said.

The union said two weeks have passed since its last meeting with management and warned that a resolution to the dispute cannot be reached if the airline has ‘pre-conditions’.

Ryanair has limited the damage from the Irish strikes so far and said passengers on the 20 flights it cancelled from the 300 that flew in and out of Ireland yesterday were either put on another flight or refunded.

However, it faces greater disruption next Friday, with Irish pilots joining colleagues in Sweden and Belgium on strike. Ryanair is braced for action in Germany and the Netherlands on the same day. Ryanair shares were down 0.2% at €12.98 by 2.55pm yesterday, near two-year lows and well below the level hit

Struggling to reach collective deals

in December when it shocked the markets by ending 32 years of refusing to recognise unions.

While the airline has signed recognition deals in some markets, it has failed to do so in others and has not yet reached any collective labour agreements.

‘This is part and parcel of life in aviation when you recognise unions,’ Ryanair executive Kenny Jacobs told Newstalk, pointing to years of wrangling over pay and conditions at rival Lufthansa. ‘There is going to be disruption, it will be small, we will manage it... We are making progress around the rest of Europe, strikes can be part of that process, they are not helpful, but we will get collective labour agreements in place over the autumn in key markets.’ Comment – Page 14

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