Ryanair has announced that they can’t rule out cancellations during Easter holidays due to strike action.
Airline representatives stated that they cannot rule out any flight disruptions over the Easter holidays due to a number of one-day strikes their cabin crew in Portugal have planned.
However, any disruptions that may arise are expected to be small, according to its chief executive who spoke at a news conference in Vienna on Wednesday.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, who was in Vienna to promote the Laudamotion cooperation, also spoke about how, if the situation arises that flights result in being cancelled, disruptions will be “small scale.”
“It depends on how many disruptions there are. We can’t rule it out but it will be small scale,” he said.
“Ryanair has scheduled 90 flights to and from Portugal for Thursday.”
According to Portuguese union representatives, the strikes are motivated by below-par labour conditions, including over-the-top disciplinary processes and threats for not reaching in-flight sales targets. They also accuse the company of ignoring basic parenthood rights and not allowing doctor-approved sick days.
The strikes by unionised cabin crew were set for Thursday 29 March, Sunday 1 April and Wednesday 4 April. The union said it was still in Ryanair’s hands to avoid the walkout.
The airline announced that it did not expect a lot of crew to join the walkout but disruptions were possible.
The union who are undergoing strike action released a statement criticising both the budget airline and the Portuguese government for doing nothing to defend its union members’ rights.
“The talks with the company have been fruitless as Ryanair refuses to apply the Portuguese law, recognise the rights that the Portuguese constitution gives to its citizens,” it said.
“We demand respect because it is granted by law… the cabin crews demand their basic rights and not even the vile threat of shutting the Portuguese hubs scares us.”
In a statement, Ryanair called the strike threat “entirely unnecessary” after it sent the union a signed recognition agreement and agreed to meet with SNPVAC representatives in Dublin on April 9.
JOE got in touch with Ryanair, who informed us that they’ve gotten in touch with their cabin crew in Portugal to put their customers first this weekend.
“We have been notified of potential strike action by some cabin crew in Portugal on Thursday next (29 Mar), which has been organised and called by TAP, Easyjet and SATA cabin crew employees,” the statement began.
“We have written to our cabin crew in Portugal urging them to put our customers first during this Easter Thursday and ignore this strike threat.
“While we don’t expect many of our crew to take part, we cannot rule out some disruptions and will notify any affected customers on Thursday 29 by email and SMS text message.
“This strike threat is entirely unnecessary given Ryanair has already sent the union a signed recognition agreement and agreed to meet with them on 9th April in Dublin.
“We hope our cabin crew will not allow competitor airline cabin crew employees to disrupt the plans of Ryanair customers, and their families, during this busy Easter Thursday.”
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