Ryanair hails ‘successful’ first union talks
Dublin, (MILLAT ONLINE):Ryanair on Tuesday hailed a “positive and successful” meeting with pilots’ representatives, following unprecedented talks as the Irish no-frills airline takes the first steps towards union recognition.
“Ryanair this evening had a positive and successful meeting with its Irish pilots union council and their union representatives,” a company spokesman told AFP.
The talks on home soil were the first since Ryanair on Friday offered to recognise unions, prompting the suspension of strike action planned over the festive period.
Described by Ryanair as “the first step in the union recognition process”, the Dublin talks received a cautious response from unions Impact and the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA).
“While Ryanair management said they recognised Impact/IALPA for collective bargaining purposes at this evening’s meeting, they said they were unable to give the union a piece of paper to confirm this.
“This is disappointing given all that’s been said in the media over the last five days,” they said in a joint statement.
The unions said they gave Ryanair a series of proposals to consider and requested a response by midday (1200 GMT) on Thursday, a schedule which the no-frills airline has not yet committed to.
Irish-based Ryanair pilots suspended a one-day strike planned for Wednesday ahead of the talks, although their representatives warned further industrial action could be announced “in the absence of a timely agreement”.
Tuesday’s talks have already avoided a strike over Christmas, however, as a seven-day notice period is required under Irish law.