Airline suffers court setback over pilot contracts

A FORMER Ryanair pilot should have been considered an employee and not an independent contractor, a Spanish judge has ruled.

The airline has suffered a setback in its fight to avoid European-wide strikes over workers’ terms and conditions.

However, the ruling by a Spanish judge in Tenerife this month could be appealed.

Spanish union Sepla took a High Court case against the company over pilot contracts in early August.

Under Spanish law, a contractor does not enjoy the same rights as an employee. This means the airline does not have to contribute to the worker’s social security payments.

Ryanair last night said it had instructed its lawyers to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, a union representing cabin crews in Belgium has turned down an offer by the airline to offer contracts based on local laws ahead of a planned strike on Friday week.

Ryanair offered to follow Belgian employment law from March 2020 for contracted employees.

Currently, staff are employed under Irish contracts which means staff abroad can miss out on employment benefits under legislation where they are based. Belgian union CNE said the move would help about half of workers.

This is because Ryanair has also been hiring using recruiter Crewlink which issues its own contracts, it said.