Ryanair signs recognition agreements with pilot unions after summer of strikes
Ryanair has agreed to recognise a group of pilot unions after a summer of industrial action across Europe.
The budget airline has signed a collective labour agreement with the Portuguese Civil Aviation Union (Spac) today, which will to allow negotiations to begin over seniority, which gives preference to the longest serving pilots in requests for annual leave and promotions, and applications to transfer to different airports.
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The budget airline has also signed similar agreements with UK-based Balpa and Anpac in Italy this week. It expects to sign an agreement with Spanish union Sepla soon.
It comes as Belgian cabin crew unions CNE and LBC-NVK threatened a series of staff walkout unless Ryanair "radically changes" its position on employing staff under Irish law.
Ryanair’s chief people officer, Eddie Wilson said: “These signed agreements with our pilot unions in Portugal, the UK, Italy and shortly in Spain, demonstrate the considerable progress we’re making in concluding union agreements with our people in our major EU markets.
"The recent wave of airline failures in Europe including Primera Air, Cobalt, Air Azur, and Small Planet (GER), as well as base closures/cuts announced by many of Europe’s major airlines in response to higher oil prices and lower air fares, have given a significant stimulus to these union negotiations over recent weeks.
"Ryanair’s pilots and cabin crew recognise that they enjoy better pay, better rosters, and significantly better job security than their counterparts at many other EU airlines, and we for our part, are recognising and working with unions to conclude agreements which address the major issues of concern to our pilots and cabin crew in all our major EU markets.
"I expect that these agreements in Spain, and Portugal in particular, will encourage the cabin crew unions in both those countries to remove competitor airline employees (who have been blocking progress) and to quickly conclude cabin crew agreements in those countries, as that’s what our Portuguese and Spanish cabin crew are now demanding.”
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