Ryanair Pilots Renew Strike Threat With Recognition Deadline
Ryanair Pilots Set Recognition Deadline as Strike Threat Lingers
(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc’s charm offensive toward workers is being put to the test after Irish pilots gave it less than two days to reach an agreement recognizing their labor union or face the threat of strikes.
Europe’s largest discount carrier has until noon Thursday to come up with “concrete” proposals for unionization after failing to submit written terms at a meeting late Tuesday, according to the IMPACT/IALPA union.
The Dublin-based company, which is gearing up for the busy Christmas and New Year travel period, said the labor group had put forward proposals for negotiations and that it “agreed to respond to them in writing by Thursday.”
Ryanair appeared to have headed off the first strikes in its history after Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary last week softened a longstanding anti-union stance, saying he’d recognize pilot organizations established after a rostering mixup led to the scrapping of 20,000 flights, boosting staff bargaining power.
“While Ryanair management said they recognized 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,” the labor body said in a statement Tuesday. “This is disappointing given all that’s been said in the media over the last five days.”
Union official Bernard Harbor told Ireland’s RTE radio Wednesday that while the meeting with management had been “positive,” action was needed “to match encouraging words.” Ryanair, commenting in an email, also described the talks as positive.
Shares of Ryanair traded 1.6 percent higher as of 9:09 a.m. in Dublin. The stock fell 9 percent Friday in the wake of O’Leary’s apparent concessions amid investor concern that a compromise would inflate costs and undermine the company’s business model.
The Irish union, which had originally planned a walkout on Wednesday, said its strike mandate can still be implemented after required notice “in the absence of a timely agreement.” Ryanair also plans to meet with representatives of German and Portuguese pilots this week before consulting with other cockpit crews, as well as flight attendants, “in due course.”
Credit Suisse has downgraded Ryanair, predicting unionization means costs may rise by more than the 100 million euros ($118 million) forecast by the company for fiscal year 2019, though the carrier has said it’s standing by its targets. Davy, Ireland’s largest securities firm, says expenses should still remain well below those of rivals and RBC Capital Markets has said other airlines may now experience similar pressures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net, Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Tom Lavell
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
