Ryanair pilots who are members of the IMPACT union today voted by 76 to one in favour of strike action over working hours. The union says they will meet again on Thursday to decide what action to take. An IMPACT spokesman said that any action was probably some time away. It may be co-ordinated with the British Airline Pilots' Association, which represents around a third of Ryanair pilots in Britain. BALPA has yet to ballot its members.
The IMPACT ballot had been deferred after an interim agreement in September, but IMPACT says that a deal offered by the company in October which included pay rises and share options did not address the issue of pilots' working hours. The union says that the dispute arose because Ryanair was in breach of a 1994 Working Conditions Agreement. IMPACT says that it represents around 80 of the approximately 90 Ryanair pilots in Ireland.
Ryanair says just under 50% of pilots have accepted a new pay and share option package, which is not enough to win acceptance of the deal. The airline says it has invited representatives of its Irish and UK pilots to talks to see how their remaining concerns can be addressed. Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary, said that some pilots had rejected the deal because they had been "badly advised and misled" by IMPACT, which he described as "the Aer Lingus trade union".
