Ryanair's Irish union threatens possible strike

Ryanair’s Irish union has given the company until May 24 to agree to new working practices, or it will ballot pilots for possible industrial action, including strikes. The airline recognised trade unions in December for the first time in its 32-year history, when pilots exploited a chaotic period after the company was forced to cancel thousands of flights due to rostering problems. Since then it has come to bilateral agreements with unions in Britain and Italy, but is still working towards deals with unions in other major centres such as Ireland and Spain. The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association wrote to CEO Michael O’Leary in a letter dated May 17. The union is demanding the introduction of new systems for dealing with base allocations, promotions, and annual leave. “If it is not possible to negotiate the introduction of such a seniority agreement for the benefit of our member pilots directly employed by Ryanair, it is our intention to ballot our member pilots employed by Ryanair for sanction for industrial action up to and including strike action,” the union wrote. It said pilots complain that mandatory relocations cause family upheaval and they are demanding transparency so that members know why specific pilots are selected for transfers or why requests for transfers are denied.<br/>