2018 has been a turning point in Ryanair’s history and its relationships with its workforce: first strikes in the history of the company, shortage of pilots, unity among all crew members in Europe, which resulted in Ryanair management finally coming to the negotiations table. And even then, they were still showing clear reluctance to change their practices. But we stood firm and, after months of discussions, meetings, letters and threats, Ryanair finally agreed with our longstanding demand: in October 2018, they accepted to apply Belgian Labor law to their directly employed pilots based in Belgium. Deadline was 1st February.

But the hard work was not over. As from then started long weeks of negotiations on several topics. Fortunately, BeCA delegates and lawyers were deeply involved in the process and, in December 2018, the first protocol was signed with Ryanair, after a secret ballot among all RYR pilots based in Belgium. It focuses on Seniority, Base transfers & Captain upgrades.

The negotiations resumed just after the new year and, after many discussions, BeCA and the management came up with a new CLA proposal on Remuneration & rostering. Although not perfect, it guarantees stability for Ryanair pilots for the next four years and harmonises working and remuneration conditions for all pilots based in Belgium. It also includes the opportunity for self-employed pilots to sign an employment contract with Ryanair.

More negotiations are planned for the next months on the following topics:

• Annual Leave procedure
• Working regulations, aimed at protecting employees, among others, against bullying and threats by the employer
• Base downsizing
• Union delegation “working framework”

We will of course keep you posted!