Battle of big forces at Ryanair
Some Ryanair pilot employees who joined the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) plan to strike next Wednesday, four days before Christmas.
The blame for the disruption will fall equally at Ryanair’s door because of its rostering fiasco which led to cancellations this year but also at the pilots themselves, a well-paid profession.
Some pilots are seeking collective bargaining and negotiating rights. But the proposed strike is nothing but a turf war and, as in any war, the first casualty will be the truth.
Terms and conditions may not, after all, be the main issue in this dispute. It’s about who runs Ryanair — the management or the unions.
The Ialpa group which is making the running has Aer Lingus pilots as the majority of its membership.
Who would stand to gain if Ryanair’s costs had to increase because of union inflexibility. As we all know, Ryanair is no saint but we would be foolish to think that the pilots have any higher order agenda.
The unions have been marginalised in much of the private sector, particularly the electronics and communications firms. The public sector remains a bastion of union influence which is not always benign.
Unions want to recover the strength and membership of over a decade ago when they had the ear of the government and were de-facto members of the golden circle.
There have been some interesting cases in recent times. Some Garda unions had warned against sanctioning their members over the penalty points scandal.
Both the Garda bosses and a watchdog decided it would take too long and cost too much and be too difficult.
The Ryanair battle is between rival corporate forces. But this type of industrial actions has no place in a modern economy. There is still a role for Government — after all, most strikes hit the consumer before anyone else.
