Ryanair’s German Pilots To Strike On Friday

Ryanair’s Germany-based pilots will strike for four hours on Friday December 22 after talks with the VC union were cancelled at short notice.

The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union said that all pilots directly employed by Ryanair in Germany will be called to strike from 05:01 to 08:59 local time. The action could affect over a dozen flights scheduled between those hours.

VC said the strike was called after Ryanair cancelled a meeting at short notice because the airline “rejected two of the five VC company council members present at the negotiating table.”

The refusal to talk “shows that the principles of trade union autonomy are disregarded by Ryanair and that the company does not truly desire to enter into constructive negotiations,” VC said in a statement.

Ryanair called the disruption “unjustified and unnecessary” after it had agreed to meet the union again in early January.

Ryanair said of Wednesday’s meeting that the Pilots Council had not been elected by Ryanair pilots and “contained one former contract pilot who had not flown for Ryanair for 15 months, who is currently in litigation with Ryanair in Germany.

“Ryanair explained that it was happy to negotiate with its German pilots and the VC officials but it would not enter into negotiations with non-Ryanair pilots, or a non-Ryanair pilot who is in litigation with Ryanair.”

The Dublin-based airline said it had written to its German pilots asking them to work as normal on Friday to avoid disrupting the travel plans of thousands of German passengers during Christmas week.