Ryanair pilots in Germany have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over working conditions.
Members of the Vereinigung Cockpit union have given the airline until 6 August to submit a “workable proposal”, or else it will give 24 hours’ notice of a walk-out.
German pilots are demanding collective labour agreements and working conditions “similar to those found at comparable airlines such as TUIfly”.
The union claims no progress has been made on an agreement since negotiations began in January and denounces Ryanair’s move to reallocate aircraft from Dublin following pilot strikes in Ireland, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
Ingolf Schumacher, chairman of industrial relations at Vereinigung Cockpit, said: “Unfortunately, Ryanair has not made any proposal with which we could work. Last Friday, another round of exploratory talks yielded no progress either. Since the start of our negotiations in January, Ryanair has been playing for time and even if Ryanair is not taking this ballot seriously, industrial action, like in other European countries, seems unavoidable in Germany as well. We implore upon Ryanair to reverse its present way of behaving like a wrong-way driver towards pilots and cabin crew unions throughout Europe.”
Meanwhile, Irish pilots will stage a fresh 24-hour strike on 3 August. The Forsa union has warned of further industrial action, saying Ryanair’s decision to cut its Dublin fleet demonstrated “management’s unwillingness or inability to negotiate with unions in good faith”.
Ryanair has faced multiple strikes across Europe this year, with hundreds of flights cancelled last week due to industrial action by cabin crew in Spain, Portugal and Belgium.