Spanish pilots' union breaks off talks with Ryanair

Spanish pilots’ union SEPLA has broken off talks with Ryanair over a union recognition agreement and says it plans to file a lawsuit against the airline over contracts in Spain. Ryanair decided in December to recognize unions for the first time and, while it has come to agreements in Britain and Italy, it is still working towards deals with unions in other major centers such as Ireland and Spain. “We regret to inform you that, at today’s meeting, the negotiations with Ryanair’s management have been broken off as they have not accepted our minimum requirements document, 90% of which corresponded to their proposals,” SEPLA said in a newsletter to members. SEPLA, which says it represents about 500 of 800 Ryanair pilots based in Spain, said the airline did not want to allow union members three days a month to carry out union duties. It had previously threatened legal action but suspended it to carry out talks with Ryanair. SEPLA said it planned to meet with its lawyer on Monday to file the lawsuit. A Ryanair spokeswoman said the company did “not comment on negotiations with our people”.<br/>