Fears of possible festive disruption grow as direct employee Ryanair pilots vote in favour of industrial action
79 out of 82 of Ryanair's direct employee pilots based in Dublin have voted for industrial action in a row over collective bargaining and negotiating rights.
The ballot is said to have covered direct employees only, of which there are 84 and most of whom are captains, without whom planes cannot fly.
Staff employed through agencies, individual companies ar as contractor pilots were not covered in the ballot by the Irish Air Line Pilots Association - which is affiliated to IMPACT.
It comes after the airline's pilots have rejected the company's collective bargaining structures which they believe weaken their negotiating and bargaining power.
The company has summoned them to a meeting at its headquarters this evening.
The pilots want to use their new collective European Employee Representative Council in negotiations, rather than the Employee Representative Councils at each of Ryanair's 87 bases.
IMPACT confirmed that of the 84 ballot papers issued, 83 were returned and one was spoiled.
The ballot result found that 79 of the remaining 82 voted in favour of industrial action, while three were against.
Ryanair have released a statement saying they have received no notification of any industrial action by its Dublin pilots.
They said: "Less than 28% of Ryanair’s Dublin (over 300) pilots have voted in favour of unspecified industrial action.
"We suspect this is more PR activity by Aer Lingus pilots group IALPA, to distract from their failure in negotiating a paltry 3% pay increase for Aer Lingus pilots.
"Now that Ryanair’s Cork, Shannon and Belfast bases have agreed 20% pay increases we expect the Dublin pilots to follow this trend. However, if Ryanair’s Dublin pilots are misled by some Aer Lingus pilots into industrial action then they will lose their favourable rosters (5on/4off, a double bank holiday every week) and remuneration benefits that are specifically linked by agreement to dealing directly with Ryanair.
"This might be the first time in Irish history that a few Aer Lingus pilots persuade Ryanair pilots earning between €150,000 to €180,000 p.a. to take up industrial action instead of a 20% pay increase when Aer Lingus pilots are only getting 3%.
"If any such industrial action occurs Ryanair will still not engage with, or recognise, Aer Lingus pilots or their IALPA union."
