While Ryanair highlights the alarming increase in Air Traffic Control strikes across Europe that has wreaked havoc on airlines, their passengers and business, they seem to be keeping quiet about the actions that are currently being threatened by their pilots and their cabin crew, the first of which, according the BBC, is due to get underway this coming Thursday when pilots will strike for 24 hours.
Despite the airline asking it to call it off, the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) has told Ryanair that its strike notice for 12 July still stands, unless agreement is reached on its key demands for a seniority agreement.
RTÉ reports that Ryanair has offered to meet IALPA and its affiliate union Fórsa at the airline’s headquarters in Swords, near Dublin today, Monday but Fórsa representative Angela Kirk said her members have seen “no evidence on the part of the airline management to engage in meaningful negotiations with a view to reaching agreement on the issues they have presented to the company”.
Ryanair said it would notify customers of any possible disruption to their flights by tomorrow, Tuesday, two days before the strike.
Meanwhile Ryanair cabin crew are also planning action of their own with their staff based in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium saying they will strike in late July.
In Italy they have said that they will strike for 24-hours on 25 July, while crew in Spain, Portugal and Belgium will strike for 48 hours on 25-26 July.
The unions issued a list of changes they wanted to their terms and conditions. They include a request to be paid into bank accounts in their own countries, rather than in the Republic of Ireland.
The four unions representing cabin crew issued a joint statement saying: “We call on the European Commission, and the governments of every European country where Ryanair operates, to act upon the social dumping performed by the Irish low cost carrier and to enforce the EU employment and national imperative legislation.”
The statement was signed by Belgium’s CNE/LBC, Spain’s SITCPLA and USO, Portugal’s SNPVAC and Italy’s Ultrasporti unions.
However Ryanair has said employment conditions for its staff are competitive, if not better, than those offered by rival carriers.
