The Ryanair cabin crew strike that started on August 8th last year, is officially ending today (January 7th) without an agreement between both parties, as confirmed by one of the unions, the USO, who adds that they have ruled out extending the strike even though the airline has made no effort to negotiate with them.
The action, called by cabin crew represented by USO and Sitcpla, began with relative force as each day of the strike caused flight delays and cancellations, but over the last couple of months, its impact on Ryanair's flight schedule decreased until it was practically nil as the airline was able to cover them with other staff.
The unions claim that Ryanair has not shown "the slightest attempt to approach them”, and has publicly stated its refusal to engage in any dialogue or negotiation with the representatives chosen by its crew members.
In addition, according to the unions, the Labour Inspectorate (work inspectors) issued a report determining that Ryanair violated the right to strike of its cabin crew (TCP) and replaced striking workers with others not linked to the workplace after receiving complaints from the USO union.
The CEO of Ryanair, Eddie Wilson, described the strikes as "absolutely unnecessary", saying that, "they are planning strikes in the middle of the negotiations. The main function of a union is to improve the conditions of its members, and the company tries to reach agreements to be sustainable. This relationship has been dysfunctional in the last four years," he added.
AGREEMENT WITH CCOO:
In October, the Irish airline announced that they had signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the CCOO union, who represent the largest amount of workers, with better pay and conditions for Ryanair cabin crew in Spain.
Among these improvements are salary increases for junior cabin crew, regular annual increases for three years until April 2025, as well as more guaranteed fixed salary, instead of variable salary.
UGT, USO, Sitpla, and ATR denounced the legality of the agreements and the violation of the right to freedom of association, as well as the legitimacy of CCOO, before the Social Chamber of the National Court to sign a limited effectiveness agreement with the company, asking, among other things, that the agreement no longer applies to the entire crew.
However, the National Court has ruled that the extra-statutory agreements reached between the CCOO union and Ryanair for passenger cabin crew (TCP) do not imply any harm to union freedom in terms of union activity and collective bargaining, nor do they condition the TCP to their previous affiliation to CCOO for the application of said agreements.
