IRISH RYANAIR PILOTS have voted in favour of industrial action.

A ballot of the pilots was carried out today by the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (IALPA).

Pilots have demanded improved pay and conditions from the airline and the right to have union representation for collective bargaining across all of Europe.

Pilots at a number of bases – including Dublin, London Stansted and Madrid – have rejected proposals from management around pay and conditions.

RTÉ news reported that Ryanair has now ordered its Dublin based staff for an emergency meeting. It was also reported that 95% of the balloted pilots were in favour of taking the industrial action.

In a statement this evening, Ryanair said it had received no correspondence about any action and went on the offensive against Aer Lingus.

It read: “Ryanair has received no notification of any industrial action by its Dublin pilots so we suspect this is more PR activity by Aer Lingus pilots group IALPA, to distract from their failure in negotiating a paltry 3% pay increase for Aer Lingus pilots.

Now that Ryanair’s Cork, Shannon and Belfast bases have agreed 20% pay increases we expect the Dublin pilots to follow this trend. However, if Ryanair’s Dublin pilots are misled by some Aer Lingus pilots into industrial action then they will lose their favorable rosters (5on/4off, a double bank holiday every week) and remuneration benefits that are specifically linked by agreement to dealing directly with Ryanair.

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This might be the first time in Irish history that a few Aer Lingus pilots persuade Ryanair pilots earning between €150,000 to €180,000 p.a. to take up industrial action instead of a 20% pay increase when Aer Lingus pilots are only getting 3%.

“If any such industrial action occurs Ryanair will still not engage with, or recognise, Aer Lingus pilots or their IALPA union.”