We’ve won some battles, but the war has just started…

In the last edition of our magazine, we informed you that a massive exodus of pilots was ongoing in Ryanair, which could potentially harm its operations. Not even a month later, the news spread all over European media: Ryanair had to cancel hundreds of flights over the next months. For several weeks, the issue of Ryanair’s staff’s working conditions made headlines around Europe; pilots started to speak up, in an unprecedented movement of unity in Ryanair history. They got organised and, just before Christmas, several bases announced their will to go on strike would the management not meet their demands to have stable work contracts and union recognition. Here is a highlight on the Ryanair saga.

September 2017

O’Leary will certainly remember this month as a pure nightmare. On 12 September, he announced that Ryanair had to cancel hundreds of flights, first claiming that it was due to bad weather conditions and air traffic controllers’ strike, before blaming an incorrect planning of pilots’ holidays. The truth was: a simple shortage of captains.

Only two days later, he was hit by another bullet: the European Court of Justice gave its ruling, refuting Ryanair’s longstanding claim that the nationality of the airplane should determine the jurisdiction and applicable labour law.

This decision brought necessary legal certainty to Ryanair pilots, as:

• it states that the Home Base is the habitual place of work
• it allows to challenge the presumption if the base is a bogus one
• it states that ‘jurisdiction clauses’ in contracts that limit the employee’s right to bring proceedings to a court that has jurisdiction under EU law are not enforceable.

Seizing this momentum and their problems being exposed in the media, Ryanair pilots all over Europe started getting together, supported by their national pilot associations where needed. Groups were formed, communication channels were created and some pilots even dared to speak up (http://bit.ly/2nY5LkD).

On 18 September, Ryanair management offered a bonus (of up to 15,000 euro) to all pilots willing to drop 10 of their days off and to commit to remain at least one more year with the company. This proposal was massively rejected.

Instead, on 21 September, taking the opportunity of the Ryanair shareholders’ meeting, 45 Ryanair bases in Europe signed a common letter demanding common working conditions, collective representation and fair social dialogue. The tone of the letter was very constructive, as pilots were inviting the management to build a common, brighter future for the airline and staff altogether. Unsurprisingly, O’Leary’s response was nothing but shameful: he refused, claiming that pilots had “an easy job” and that he could force them to give up a week of leave.

Ryanair, however, had to face it: the shortage of captains was going to lead to further disruptions if they did not act quickly. They therefore started sending offers to individual bases, complying with their longstanding “divide & rule” approach. Fortunately, the pilots did not fall into their trap. They did not sign any bilateral agreement and remained organised under a European ERC regrouping all national ERCs (Ryanair Employee representative Committee).

December 2017

After two relatively quiet months (at least at the public level) when pilots got more and more united, O’Leary awaited for the busy Christmas period with some legitimate concerns, given that the pilot shortage had not been solved and that talks had not been started with the pilots.

For the first time in Ryanair’s history, several bases sent a strike notice: 15 December in Italy, 20 December in Ireland, Germany and Portugal. Pilots were demanding an immediate recognition of unions as their representatives and the launch of a social dialogue. The unions called off the strikes after Ryanair expressed their will to recognise unions and start negotiations with them. In Germany, though, after a first meeting with the company on 20 December, VC (the German Pilots’ Association) decided to organise a 4-hour warning strike on 22 December. Although the media and Ryanair claimed the strike was not well attended, it was actually quite successful, as all the flights concerned suffered major delays.

On the same day, the Irish High Court gave its verdict on a defamation case filed by Ryanair against three pilots from the Ryanair Pilot Group. The Court confirmed (http://bit.ly/2H9D38p) that their intention was not to harm the company and therefore ruled in favor of the pilots.

Latest developments & State of play

2018 started with some mixed feelings.

First of all, on the positive side, unity amongst pilots all over Europe did not fade, all the contrary. Through late December and early January, more and more Ryanair pilots presented themselves as their colleagues’ representatives within local Company Councils.
They are still in close contact, under the supervision of ECA, who offers a single platform of coordination between the national pilots’ associations and the European ERC. On 11 January, Ryanair pilot Company Council members and EERC representatives met in Brussels (http://bit.ly/2EjkKvD). They confirmed their will to remain united and to strengthen coordination and asked ECA to consider the creation of a RYR transnational coordination platform. They also warned individual pilots who were considering accepting the pay offer made by Ryanair, explaining that they should look carefully at the conditions before accepting them.

During this meeting, they also agreed to send a letter to Ryanair, reiterating the demands of union recognition and stable work contracts for all pilots and offering them to meet in February. Ryanair’s response was quick and crystal clear: they don’t want to meet with ECA, claiming that our statements are inaccurate and that such meeting would slow down ongoing talks and union recognition processes that are taking place in several countries.

On 30 January, Ryanair management signed an official agreement with BALPA (British Air Line Pilots’ Association) recognising them as the official representative of pilots in Britain. This is the first time the airline recognises a union and we hope this will trigger more news like that in other European countries.

What’s up in Belgium?

Since September, the number of Ryanair pilots becoming BeCA members has not stopped growing, passing from 25 six months ago to almost 90 today. This is very good news, as this shows that pilots understand the importance of our work for their future within their airline.

On 14 & 18 December, BeCA organised two meetings, inviting all Ryanair pilots to attend. The meetings were aimed at discussing the latest developments and, above all, agreeing on a strategy plan for the future. Over 40 pilots attended these meetings, which triggered 8 pilots to present themselves as pilots’ delegates in front of Ryanair’s management. Consequently, on 22 December, a common letter between BeCA, CNE and LBC, was sent to Mr Wilson, Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, introducing the names of these 8 pilots and inviting them to meet unions.

On 19 January, 4 pilot representatives met with RYR management in Zaventem, assisted by two union secretaries and by Mr Lamal, BeCA’s legal advisor. The meeting unfortunately did not end up with the expected outcomes. Our request to have an addendum to every pilot contract stating that Belgian labour law applies was declined by Ryanair, claiming this was not necessary. They offered a pay deal that both parties agreed to consider. The next meeting is planned for end of February.

Conclusion

Although the latest developments may seem not very positive, several battles have been won in the past months and talks have finally started. The promise to recognise unions, along with the European Court of Justice’s ruling on the home base and the good coordination between the different countries, are all positive signs that we are going into the right direction.

But we must remain vigilant, as we are still at the very beginning of a long process, that we will win only if we remain united until the end. BeCA has been supporting Ryanair pilots throughout this process, with legal advice and expertise, and will continue to do so. We will keep you updated on future developments.