Irish Ryanair pilots have voted to strike on 20 December.
In a statement released by Impact Trade Union on Tuesday, it was confirmed that Ryanair pilots who are members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association, a branch of Impact, had decided to “withdraw their labour in an action that Impact says will either disrupt flights or generate substantial costs to the airline”.
The pilots backed industrial action by a margin of 94% to 6% in secret ballots conducted over the last week.
The dispute is over Ryanair management’s refusal to enter direct negotiations with the European Employee Representative Council (EERC) or IALPA as the sole independent representative body for pilots working in the company.
Only one strike day has been proposed so far, but the statement from Impact notes that “the union has warned of further strike days if agreement is not reached”.
According to the Irish Times, 84 Ryanair pilots are members of the Impact branch.
Commenting on the possibility of a strike on Monday, a Ryanair spokesperson said: “Ryanair has received no notification of any industrial action by its Dublin pilots so 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.”
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