Members of the union representing Ryanair’s UK-based pilots voted to conduct two strikes in late August and early September.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) members voted 80% in favor of the strike actions, for Aug. 22-23 and Sept. 2-4. There was a 72% turnout.
The Irish LCC, however, said less than 50% of its UK pilots are BALPA members and of those, 57% had voted in favor of industrial action. “This is less than 30% of Ryanair’s UK pilots,” the airline said.
BALPA said it had made no progress with Ryanair on issues of pay, pensions and benefits.
“Decades of Ryanair refusing to deal with unions has resulted in two things. Firstly, a management that apparently doesn’t understand how to work with unions, and secondly a company that doesn’t have a number of standard agreements that any union would reasonably expect in any workplace,” the union said. “That is why our claim includes many issues including pensions, loss of license insurance, maternity benefits, allowances, and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.”
Ryanair said it was disappointed BALPA is threatening to disrupt its customers’ travel plans.