Ryanair’s Dublin Pilots Vote In Favour Of Industrial Action

Darragh Berry

Ryanair’s Dublin pilots have defied a management threat and voted in favour of labour action.

Just under 28% of Ryanair’s Dublin pilots have voted in favour of unspecified industrial action, according to a statement from the airline company this evening.

According to The Irish Examiner, of the cockpit staff who voted, 95% said they’d rather go on strike than accept management proposals to improve employment terms.

Ryanair warned last week that it would scrap promotions, halt transfer requests and go “head-to-head” on the matter by moving aircraft to other Irish airports if the staff went on strike.

According to the paper, the ballot is said to have covered direct employees only, of which there are 84 and most of whom are captains.

And as you well know, if there aren’t any captains, there is going to be no movement…

The last thing the company will want is to disrupt business as usual after their pilot shortage in September meant the company had to cancel flights for 700,000 customers.

The company has since offered concessions but has said it will reverse course if pilots in Dublin strike.

The ballot showed that 79 out of 82 employees voted in favour of strike, while three were against.

Ryanair released a statement in response this evening that states Ryanair pilots could be “misled by some Are Lingus pilots”

“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”.