Trade unions are threatening to carry out European-wide cabin crew strike actions at Ryanair in the next weeks if the low-cost airline does not open to social dialogue.
Trade unions in five different countries are considering organizing strikes starting from this June against the Irish airline, unless the company improves the working conditions.
Didier Lebbe, secretary at the Belgian labor union CNE, told Belga News Agency that the union will support the strikes.
Sporadic or coordinated actions could take place just about anywhere in Europe from June.
Didier Lebbe, secretary at the Belgian union CNE
The last major strike against Ryanair took place during Summer 2018. That year, trade unions from several European countries pressured Ryanair to apply local national labor laws to employment contracts in all countries where it operates. The trade unions came out victorious and Ryanair agreed to apply this legislation.
However, little has improved since then and many issues raised back in 2018 have not been resolved yet. The trade unions representing the cabin crews from Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain complain of the lack of “fair and transparent dialogue” with Ryaniar’s headquarter. According to Belga News Agency reports, the unions mentioned issues such as unclear or incorrect pay slips, no access to drinking water for the staff on flights, and the absence of a local HR department.
The unions said that if the low-cost airline does not respond meaningfully, they will not hesitate to organize cabin crew strikes throughout the summer.
