Ryanair pilot strike to cause chaos for Kilkenny holidaymakers

BY COLIN BARTLEY

THE PLANS of Kilkenny holidaymakers could be plunged into chaos later this month after Ryanair pilots voted overwhelmingly to back strike plans.

Unions representing the Ryanair pilots have given Ryanair management until next Monday to accept their demands for improved pay and work conditions or face a grounding of part of its airline fleet.

In the ballot, 94% of the pilots balloted voted for industrial action. The body representing the pilots, the Irish Airline Pilots Association(IALPA), said it will announce dates of strike action next week if the pilots’ demands are not met.

Ryanair pilots in the UK are set to strike on two occasions over the next month, a 48-hour strike starting at midnight on August 22nd, followed by a 72-hour strike two weeks later, on September 2nd.

In a statement released by IALPA’s parent union Fórsa, the assistant general secretary Ian McDonnell, he said: “They (the pilots) feel they have been forced into contemplating potentially-disruptive industrial action by a company that seems either unwilling or unable to negotiate in a professional and constructive manner.

“At this stage, only a substantive counter-proposal, which properly addresses all areas of our claim, will be enough to prevent us serving notice of industrial action next week.”