Talks between Ryanair and pilots enter second day
After the grounding of more than 100 flights to and from Ireland in the last month, Ryanair pilot representatives and management will later begin a second day of mediation talks aimed at preventing further disruptive strikes here.
Independent mediator Kieran Mulvey, the former chief executive of the Workplace Relations Commission, has set three days aside for the discussions, asking both sides not to make public comment while they remain in the process.
As the first phase of talks opened yesterday — the first time the sides were in the room for 24 days — sources indicated that Mr Mulvey would not be a “prisoner” to the 11 points which have dominated public utterances by both sides in recent weeks.
Those points are around such issues as pilot transfers and seniority.
He will be looking for the essence of what people want rather than be tied to the language of the points,” one source said. “He will be looking for a deal around that essence which is acceptable to both sides.
The union, which also represents cabin crew, will seek assurances from the company as to its members’ futures after management threatened on July 25 to sack 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew or transfer them to Poland, partly in response to the strike action which its pilots were taking.
The airline endured its worst one-day strike on Friday after a walk-out by pilots in five European countries disrupted the plans of an estimated 55,000 travellers. Approximately 100 of Ryanair’s 350 Irish-based pilots joined colleagues in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden in a series of stoppages.
Meanwhile, German union Verdi will meet Ryanair in Dublin tomorrow to start pay talks for around 1,000 cabin crew working in Germany.
Verdi is seeking a substantial pay increase for cabin crew and wants Ryanair to recognise German law and pay social security contributions.
“Through seasonal shifts and a lack of guaranteed flight hours, some full-time employees receive gross pay of only around €1,000 a month. That’s completely unacceptable,” said Verdi board member Christine Behle.
