Victory for the Mail as Ryanair agrees to new rights for cabin crew
RYANAIR agreed to recognise cabin-crew unions yesterday – hours after the Daily Mail revealed air stewards’ appalling working conditions.
Cabin crew hailed the Mail’s exposé as bosses announced they would enter into discussions in the new year.
The budget airline had refused to negotiate with unions and cabin- crew contracts warned staff they could be sacked for taking industrial action.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary once said he would rather cut off his own hands than recognise unions.
On Friday, Ryanair pledged to recognise pilots’ unions because of a planned strike by Irish pilots – originally scheduled for today – who complained of a toxic work atmosphere.
The offer to sit down with unions was extended to cabin crew yesterday after the Mail exposed the gruelling practices staff endured, including being made to work unpaid for up to five hours a day. They are paid only for ‘flight time’, and not hours on the ground cleaning planes and during delays.
Thousands of recruits hired through agencies have to pay training fees of at least £2,000 and take up to three months’ unpaid leave a year.
They are even charged up to £175 if they leave their job within 15 months of starting.
In response, Theresa May warning that there were ‘no excuses’ for underpaying staff. Dozens of workers contacted the Mail to blow the whistle on Ryanair’s tricks to boost sales.
They said planes were kept cold and bright so passengers ‘stay awake and stay hungry’.
Workers were also threatened with moves away from their families to other countries if sales targets were missed.
One member of cabin crew for- merly based in Dublin said: ‘It was like a small North Korea. People who complained mysteriously disappeared. It is modern-day slavery and they should be ashamed of themselves.’
Yesterday, the airline said: ‘Ryanair is moving to recognise unions, starting this week with meetings with Irish, German and Portuguese pilot unions.
‘It will lead on in the new year to meetings with other EU pilot unions and cabin crew unions in due course as well.’
But Mr O’Leary suggested the decision would also benefit the airline financially.
He said: ‘Clearly one of the upsides of engaging in union recognition from our point of view is that it opens up growth opportunities for us in France and Scandinavia, countries that were previously closed to us because we felt it was going to involve mandatory union recognition.’
Shares in Ryanair fell 10 per cent after it announced that it would recognise trade unions to avert the first pilots’ strike in the company’s history.
In September, the airline said it ‘messed up’ in the planning of pilots’ holidays, leading to 700,000 bookings and more than 20,000 flights scheduled for this winter being cancelled.
The Spanish USO union, which represents 80 Ryanair cabin crew including British employees, said: ‘This is definitely a step in the right direction and we thank the Daily Mail for highlighting how cabin crew have been treated.’
And Chris Waters, of Meaby and Co Solicitors, which represents pilots and aviation staff, said: ‘This is excellent news. I’d like to congratulate the Daily Mail on highlighting issues within Ryanair that sadly workers at other airlines will be all too familiar with.’
Following the Mail’s investigation, the Commons’ work and pensions committee demanded a probe into Ryanair. It will write to Mr O’Leary today.
Ryanair denied any wrongdoing, saying agency cabin crew’s hourly wage for flight time covers all duty time. A spokesman said staff were given training to improve their sales but that if they failed to perform, ‘their contracts will be terminated’.
‘A step in the right direction’