Unions urge vote to oust Ryanair chairman
RYANAIR’S billionaire chairman should not be re-elected to the airline’s board at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF).
The two organisations have urged Ryanair shareholders to oppose David Bonderman’s re-election.
The ITF and ETF said that they and their affiliate unions have “lost confidence” in the ability of Ryanair’s leadership to transition to a “sustainable, unionised business model”.
They want an “independent” chairman appointed at the airline. Mr Bonderman is a co-founder of US private equity giant TPG. “If Ryanair is serious about engaging with workers and unions then the time has come for fresh leadership,” the federations said.
Ryanair’s AGM last year was dominated by a pilot rostering failure that ultimately saw it agree before Christmas to recognise unions.
Mr Bonderman has been chairman of Ryanair since 1996 and owns a €104m stake in the company. Ryanair deems that Mr Bonderman’s interest is “not so material as to breach the spirit of the independence rule” contained in the UK corporate governance code. Two former Ryanair executives, Howard Millar and Michael Cawley, are non-executive directors at the airline. Both are considered independent.
“At the end of last year ITF, ETF and our affiliates welcomed the prospect of a new era of co-operation with the company,” said ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton. “Instead, we have seen the stalling, antagonism and underhanded tactics continue.”
He claimed Ryanair has a “seriously antiquated corporate governance model”.
He added: “Keeping the same chair for over two decades and installing former Ryanair executives as ‘independent’ non-executives does not lend itself to proper scrutiny and challenge in the boardroom.”
Ryanair did not respond to a request for comment.