Pilots Will Stay Off The Job On August 23 And September 4

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has set strike dates for U.K.-based Ryanair pilots following an industrial action ballot which closed Wednesday. The ballot saw 80% vote in favor of strike action on a 72% turnout.

The BALPA National Executive Council (NEC) met today and authorised the strike action. BALPA members in Ryanair will be asked to take strike action as follows:

• From 0001 on 22nd August until 2359 on August 23
• From 0001 on 2nd September until 2359 on September 4

BALPA says that decades of Ryanair refusing to deal with unions has resulted in two things. Firstly, a management that apparently doesn’t understand how to work with unions, and secondly a company that doesn’t have a number of standard agreements that any union would reasonably expect in any workplace.
That is why our claim includes many issues including pensions; loss of license insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.

The union said in a news release that it has made no progress with Ryanair management on any of those areas at all, "seemingly because Ryanair management cannot understand how to go about working with us constructively, or how to negotiate. Ryanair has made no offer to BALPA in respect of its pilots."

"We have had no formal offer from Ryanair and it is imperative that we resolve this dispute urgently to avoid strike action," said Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary. "No pilot wants to spoil the public’s travel plans but at the moment it seems we have no choice.”

This dispute is separate and unconnected to the current dispute in British Airways.

(Source: BALPA news release)

FMI: www.balpa.org