Union pressure successful in Spain

9 February 2005: In December and January, Ryanair faced serious strike threats in Girona, Spain. Baggage handlers at the airport, organised with the Spanish UGT union, demanded fair pay for their good work, and the recognition of their desire for a collective voice. more >>

Pilots Win Major Court Victory Over Ryanair!

28 January 2005: The Irish Airline Pilots Union (IALPA) which is part of the Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union (IMPACT) welcomed the judgement by the Irish Labour Court on 25 January which now guarantees an investigation into a complaint lodged by pilots against Ryanair. more >>

Half million hits prove things are 'badly wrong' at Ryanair

10 January 2005: Just months after it launched a website to defend Ryanair workers, international union federation the ITF today said it has attracted over half a million hits and revealed what it described as a 'shocking catalogue of misery, low pay and oppression' among the airline's workers. more >>

Ryanair and the two-tier workforce: could this affect safety?

17 November 2004: Our web-site is increasingly receiving messages about the disparity in pay which exists amongst cabin crew. Cabin crew appointed on the new contracts are now employed on temporary contracts for three years. They do not get any basic salary anymore but paid only by commission earned through sales, the number of sectors flown and some stand-by payments. more>>

Ryanair pilots’ association gets off the ground

17 November 2004: A new association has been set up by pilots employed by low-cost airline Ryanair. Launched on 18 October by both the Irish and British airline pilots’ associations, the Ryanair European Pilots’ Association (REPA) is supported by pilots’ unions across Europe. These include umbrella body, the European Cockpit Association. more>>

The real deal: current pay and working conditions facing Ryanair staff

08 October 2004: High pay for staff! Better performance than other airlines! Happy employees! - This is the picture Ryanair tries to paint but the reality is different. Cabin crew are flown into deep fatigue and are underpaid, ground staff are penalised for trying to be on time, and trainee pilots are pushed into debt for years. The ITF has analysed facts and figures, and looked into hundreds of emails we have received from staff. Here is the real picture of the happy world of Ryanair! more>>

Previous Campaign News and Press

Ryan-be-fair website gets off to a flying start

3 September 2004: Just three days into the ITF’s radical new campaign to give Ryanair workers a voice through a dedicated website, www.ryan-be-fair.org, and nearly 1000 people worldwide have logged their views and signed an appeal to Ryanair for fairness. Passengers have used the forum to express their concern and support for the plight of the non-unionised Ryanair workforce; while employees have raised concerns about workplace issues more>>

Fair’s fair, Ryanair, let your workers speak

31 August 2004: The International Transport Workers Federation today launched a new initiative to protect the rights of workers at Ryanair. In what it called a “new kind of campaigning” the ITF has set up www.ryan-be-fair.org, a website that will give Ryanair staff the freedom to discuss their work, conditions and any problems they have. more>>

Airline unions step up global agreements

16 June 2004: Unions at British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines, Qantas, Aer Lingus, Finnair, LanChile and Cathay Pacific area are all set to lobby their airlines to sign up to a global code of conduct on social responsibility. more>>

Airline cabin crew to Alistair Darling: help license us now for safety and security

Outrage over anti-union low fares airline

28 November 2003: Last week, trade unionists, including representatives from Belgian ITF affiliate Syndicat des Employés Techniciens et Cadres, staged a demonstration outside a Belgian labour court in a show of anger over Ryanair’s anti-union stance. more>>

Ryanair: social low fares airline!

17 November 2003: On Monday 17th November 2003, activists from France, Spain and Italy of the European Transport Worker’s Federation (ETF) and from the “Centrale Nationale des Employés (CNE)” and from the “Syndicat des Employés Techniciens et Cadres (SETCA)” organised a symbolic action in front of the Charleroi’s Labour Court to deplore Ryanair anti-social and anti-union practices. more>>

Ryanair pilots shun O’Leary meetings

20 August 2004: Meetings called by Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary to ‘persuade pilots not to join the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA)’ have backfired, as hundreds of pilots refused to attend, leaving O’Leary furious.

Pilots who failed to attend the meetings have seen their career prospects threatened by the airline refusing to train Dublin-based pilots on the new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, forcing them to pay for their own training at a cost of up to 35,000 Euros if the unions continued with their recruitment campaign. In a further attempt to quash union membership, Ryanair’s head of personnel in Dublin had leaflets provided by IALPA and BALPA removed from pilots’ pigeon holes.

This is just one incident in the ‘ongoing spat between Ryanair and its pilots over pay and working conditions’, which has seen pensions frozen, and pilots having to pay for their own uniforms and medical examinations due to O’Leary’s cost-cutting measures.

Quotes taken from The Irish Times, 20 August 2004.

Former Buzz staff win compensation from Ryanair

3 August 2004: Ryanair Holdings PLC have settled out of court to award compensation to 140 ground staff workers who were ‘laid off’ when Ryanair bought Buzz from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines last year.

Quotes taken from Dow Jones Newswires, 3 August 2004.