Don't help Ryanair during Portugal strike, Belgian unions tell members

Belgium's CNE and ACV PULS trade unions have told members not to comply with a Ryanair request to staff flights affected by a planned strike by Portuguese crew from Wednesday, a letter sent to the airline showed. Unions in Ireland, Britain, Spain and Portugal have announced plans to strike in the coming weeks, a year after a wave of strikes over pay and conditions forced the carrier to cancel hundreds of flights. Ryanair has said it expects minimal disruption from the walkouts which are scheduled to begin with a 5-day strike by Portuguese cabin crew trade union SNPVAC. "Unfortunately we had to conclude that Ryanair decided to import the conflict that is going on in Portugal to Belgium... We cannot agree with this state of affairs and will therefore call on our members not to staff these flights," the unions said. <br/>