Ryanair today (27 Sept) condemned the unnecessary pilot strike called by the Lufthansa controlled VC Union for Fri 28^th Sept. The VC claims that this strike action is called to establish a CLA regarding pay (VTV), and terms and conditions (MTV) for pilots in Germany.

However, Ryanair released a copy of a letter sent to the Head of the VC Union yesterday (26^th Sept) at the VC’s request following 7 hours of negotiations that took place in Frankfurt on 25^th Sept. In this letter, Ryanair:

– Agreed to arbitration with the VC Union in Germany;

– Agreed to an acceptable arbitrator within 7 days, whereas the VC wanted 14 days;

– Suggested a 4 or 5 week arbitration (similar to that in Ireland), whereas the VC proposed 5 months; and

– Invited the VC to meet in Dublin to finalise these agreements next Thurs 4^th

 Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew said:

“It is deeply disappointing that some of our customers and our people in Germany tomorrow will have their flights disrupted by an unnecessary strike called at short notice by the Lufthansa controlled VC Union. This is another example of a strike being organised in Ryanair by association by a union controlled by competitor airline employees, despite the fact that Ryanair has agreed to arbitration, and at a much faster period of implementation (4/5 weeks) than the 5 months being sought by the VC Union.

Having spent over 7 hours in direct negotiations with the VC in Frankfurt on Tues, and having provided them with written agreement to their demands within 24 hours, it is deeply regrettable that the VC call another unnecessary strike within 5 hours of receiving our letter.

This VC organised strike, which will not be well supported by Ryanair pilots or cabin crew in Germany, shows that even when Ryanair makes real and substantial commitments in these union negotiations, they are ignored in favour of repeated strikes.

It is inexplicable that the VC Union cannot explain why they are calling a strike to agree a CLA when Ryanair has already agreed in writing to arbitration in Germany, which will complete a German CLA by the end of October for the benefit of our pilots in Germany.

Ryanair has written to all of its pilots based in Germany copying them on the correspondence with the VC Union and we will be asking them to work as rostered tomorrow in order to minimise disruption and inconvenience for our German customers”.