Fórsa has signed a recognition agreement with two cabin crew agencies which provide cabin crew to Ryanair.

The agreement, signed on Wednesday (31st October) with the Crewlink and Workforce agencies, means the union is the sole negotiating union for Irish based Ryanair cabin crew. The union had previously signed an agreement with the airline in August for directly employed cabin crew.

Fórsa official Ashley Connolly said the agreement marked a completion of the first step toward collective bargaining for Irish based crew working at the airline: “The agreement signed with Crewlink and Workforce is another very positive development for Ryanair cabin crew.

“We’ve already commenced discussions with Ryanair on an agenda of items drawn up in consultation with cabin crew members. As these items are developed into more detailed proposals, we’ll bring the same agenda to our discussions in the two agencies,” she said.

The agenda items tabled by the union included base transfer and seniority, review of policies (including sick leave and disciplinary), shift pattern bidding and shift exchanges.

Ashley said the union will focus now on agreeing improvements to cabin crew terms and conditions in its negotiations with Ryanair and the two cabin crew agencies.