Ryanair talks to begin on Monday
Ryanair pilots’ strikes may be off the table in Ireland for now, but further disruption to the public cannot be ruled out unless a new mediation process can find a resolution to the dispute.
Directly employed pilots in Ireland staged their fifth one-day stoppage in a month yesterday as part of a Europe-wide series of stoppages which, in total, saw almost 400 flights cancelled and as many as 55,000 passengers disrupted at the height of the summer holiday season.
In the face of the strikes by pilots in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Holland, the airline took to social media yesterday morning to praise the “efforts of the majority of our pilots who are working normally”.
However, in Germany, where 250 flights were cancelled and some 42,000 travellers impacted, Ingolf Schumacher, pay negotiator at Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, said pilots have to be prepared for “a very long battle” and that it could take months to push through change at Europe’s largest low-cost carrier.
Here in Ireland, pilot union Fórsa is due to begin negotiations with airline management on Monday under the mediation of former Workplace Relations Commission chief executive Kieran Mulvey.
Mr Mulvey has had significant experience in seeking resolutions to aviation disputes, given almost a decade of industrial unrest at Aer Lingus.
The mediation is occurring after the company agreed on August 3 to third-party intervention.
“The company’s belated recognition of the need for an independent third-party facilitator, which Fórsa has been suggesting throughout this impasse, meant today’s strike by Irish-based pilots went ahead,” the union said in a statement.
“This demonstrates the company’s lack of experience of industrial relations. Similarly, its threat [on July 25] of redundancies and compulsory transfers of Irish-based staff to Poland was a crude and ineffective attempt to frighten pilots into backing down.
“Instead, it had the effect — predictable to those well versed in Irish industrial disputes — of reinforcing their resolve.”
The union said it regrets the inconvenience caused to the airline’s passengers and potential passengers by yesterday’s strike and the four previous stoppages by directly employed pilots here.
“Company management has previously attempted to paint its Irish pilots as outliers, saying that it was doing deals and conducting successful negotiations elsewhere in Europe,” Fórsa said.
“The fact that the company is facing separate disputes in four other countries today [Friday] — and experienced strikes by cabin crew in a number of jurisdictions a couple of weeks ago — shows that this is not the case. The company is struggling with its industrial relations in many places.”
It also pointed out that while it has been willing to talk to management to seek a resolution, “this will, regrettably, be the first time in 24 days that the two parties have sat down in the same room with a view to negotiating on the issues in dispute, which we believe can be resolved through negotiations”.
Ryanair has said that strike action will hit average fares because it takes up seats that it could otherwise have sold at a high last-minute price.
The airline insists it will not change the low-cost model that transformed the industry and has made it Europe’s most profitable airline.
