Union abandons pay claims for pilots at Ryanair

IMPACT trade union has finally been forced to abandon pay and recognition claims it was taking against Ryanair on behalf of its pilots because the act under which it was pursuing the cases has been drastically weakened by a Supreme Court ruling.

The union yesterday confirmed it had informed the Labour Court it was withdrawing the cases which it had taken on behalf of the Dublin pilots.

It had been seeking to represent them in pay negotiations since 2004 and had a modicum of success. In the cases it brought under the Industrial Relations Act 2001-2004, the Labour Court ruled there was a trade dispute between the pilots and the airline which it had jurisdiction to investigate.

However, Ryanair appealed that decision to the Supreme Court and it in turn ruled that the Labour Court had not followed fair procedures in reaching its decision. The Supreme Court said the Labour Court had not properly investigated whether there was internal machinery within Ryanair for resolving the problem with the pilots or whether that machinery had been exhausted, nor had it followed fair procedures in allowing complete non-disclosure of the identity of the pilots on whose behalf the union was acting.

Therefore the Supreme Court ordered the Labour Court to rehear the matter.

As highlighted in Industrial Relations News, many legal and industrial relations experts believed that the Supreme Court ruling not only decimates the strength of the 2004 act but also rendered IMPACT’s position on entering a re-hearing almost impossible.

And yesterday Michael Landers of IMPACT admitted they reached end game in its current offensive.

“We studied the Supreme Court ruling and got advice from senior counsel,” he said. “We were advised that the interpretation of the Supreme Court has made it impossible to continue to pursue the cases under the act.”

He said IMPACT, along with the rest of the trade union movement, now saw how the Government reacts to the Supreme Court ruling as a significant factor in whether the unions sign up to the next partnership deal.

In the end, the Dublin-based pilots have secured pay increases outside the Labour Court. Last autumn, a four-year deal with new wage rates and terms was agreed with the airline. The deal saw improved pay, rosters, terms and conditions and also brought pilots into line with pay and conditions already negotiated by Ryanair pilots nationwide.

However, the airline insisted the deal was contingent on Ryanair remaining union-free.