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Irish court ruling gives labour court jurisdiction to investigate low cost carrier
9 February 2007
A trade union’s case against anti-union low cost carrier, Ryanair, can now be investigated by a labour court, thanks to a ruling by the Irish Supreme Court last week.
The court, which issued its judgement on Ryanair’s appeal against an October 2005 high court ruling, agreed that the labour court had jurisdiction and could undertake a formal investigation into a dispute between the airline and its pilots. The dispute arose after Ryanair refused to negotiate over concerns regarding training for a new fleet of aircraft.
The Irish Municipal Public and Civil Trade Union (IMPACT) – an affiliate of the ITF’s European arm, the European Transport Workers’ Federation – initially took the pilots’ case to the labour court under the 2004 Industrial Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. This act gives the court powers to make binding rulings against non-union firms in certain circumstances.
Speaking after the ruling, IMPACT official Michael Landers said: “We look forward to an early re-hearing and believe we have a very strong case which we will present to the labour court, in full accordance with the guidelines and principles laid down by the Supreme Court today.”
Ingo Marowsky, ITF Civil Aviation Secretary added: “Ryanair workers and the unions they want to be able to join are calling Ryanair to account. This is just one of many court rulings against the anti-labour employer. It’s time Ryanair did the decent thing and treated workers fairly.”
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