German pilots union steps up pressure on Ryanair with strike call

[December 12, 2017]   

BERLIN (Reuters) - German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said strike action at Ryanair <RYA.I> was possible in Germany, as of now, as staff join pilots in other countries in pushing for better conditions at the Irish budget carrier.

Pilots at Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers have mobilized in the wake of the announcement of 20,000 flight cancellations by the Irish carrier, which it blamed on a lack of standby pilots due to a failure in its rostering following a rule change by Irish regulators.

They want to push for better conditions at the carrier, with VC saying it would not rest until Ryanair agreed to a collective labor agreement.

"We want to agree contracts with Ryanair. We see no other way," Vereinigung Cockpit president Ilja Schulz told reporters in Frankfurt. Ryanair rejects union representation, saying it prefers to negotiate with staff directly.

Ryanair said it had received no notification of strike action by its German pilots.

"If any such action takes place, Ryanair will deal with it head on, but we will not deal with or recognize the Lufthansa pilots union VC, regardless of what action – if any – takes place," it said in a statement.

The German union joins those in Italy and Portugal, which have also announced plans to strike. Some Ryanair pilots in Dublin on Monday voted in favor of industrial action.

Ryanair commercial passenger jet takes off in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

Several analysts have expressed scepticism as to whether the Ryanair employment model is under threat.

"We are not saying that this is not a difficult period for Ryanair and that there are not deep divisions between pilots and management that are yet to be bridged, however, what we are saying is that the headlines are worse than the reality on the ground," Goodbody analysts wrote in a note earlier, ahead of the German union announcement.

VC's Schulz declined to say when and where the strikes in Germany would take place, but that the union would give notice and that no walkouts would take place from the afternoon of Dec 23 and until the end of Dec 26.

During a long-running dispute with Lufthansa <LHAG.DE> over pay and conditions, the union typically gave 24 hours' notice of strike action.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan, editing by Emma Thomasson and Louise Heavens)

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