Ryanair clashes with Irish pilots over WRC move

Ryanair has clashed with Irish pilots over a call to refer pay talks to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), it has emerged.

The airline said on Thursday that it had agreed to accelerate restoration of 20 per cent Covid pay cuts with 85 per cent of its pilots across Europe, after Spanish and French unions became the latest to back such deals.

However, it has yet to agree terms with Irish-based pilots, represented by trade union Fórsa, which wants both sides to jointly refer the issue to the WRC, a move Ryanair says is premature.

Unions or management can refer industrial relations problems to the WRC where the sides cannot reach agreement through negotiations.

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A Ryanair statement said it had offered similar terms to Irish pilots as those agreed with other unions across Europe, which include full pay restoration by April 2023, instead of 2024, pay rises in succeeding years and other benefits.

“Ryanair has no difficulty seeking the assistance of third parties when local negotiations have been exhausted; however, we believe Fórsa’s request for WRC assistance at this stage is premature as substantial discussions have yet to take place,” it added.

Fórsa confirmed that it was seeking a joint referral to the WRC but said talks were continuing and that the sides were due to meet again early next month. Ryanair’s said it looked forward to continuing negotiations in good faith.

A letter to Ian McDonnell, Fórsa assistant general secretary, and a memo to pilots, from Darrell Hughes, Ryanair people director, show the airline offered to restore 10 per cent of pay immediately and 10 per cent next April, if the company returned to pre-Covid profitability.

Mr Hughes argues that going to a third party cannot be a substitute for meaningful talks between the union, pilots’ committee and the airline.

He warns that “defaulting to the WRC rather than negotiating” would only delay pay restoration and improvements that have already been held up by the pilots’ committee’s approach to talks.

The memo and letter indicate that the union wants to backdate the agreement, which Ryanair says is a unrealistic and “a redline” issue.

“It is up to pilot committees and unions to negotiate in good time to avoid the question of backdating and we cannot make an exception to this in any one country, including Ireland,” Mr Hughes says.

The sides have been in talks for several months and the company put its latest proposals to the union on May 27th, according to the memo.

Mr Hughes argues that the pilots’ committee arrived at a subsequent meeting in June with no new proposals and “just suggested we go to third-party negotiation”.

He says the union also ignores ongoing risks to the airline’s recovery from Covid lockdowns, including the risk of further outbreaks, an escalation of the war in Ukraine, high oil prices and possible fuel shortages.

Spanish pilots’ union Sepla and French equivalent SNPL have both accepted deals on accelerated post-Covid pay restoration, future salary boosts and other benefits each year to March 2027.

“While the recovery from the impact of the pandemic is still ongoing and our industry faces significant challenges, this long-term agreement delivers stability, accelerated pay restoration, future pay increases and other benefit improvements for pilots,” said Mr Hughes in a statement confirming the Spanish deal.

All pilots were covered by emergency agreements struck during the pandemic in 2020. Mr Hughes said it continued to work with their unions on deals similar to those struck with Sepla and SNPL.

Ryanair workers agreed a 20 per cent pay cut during the pandemic on the basis that the airline would fully restore salaries by 2024.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said in May the company would speed up pay restoration if profits allowed this.