Ryanair row over pay deal process

Fórsa, formerly Impact, said that it has decided against balloting its pilot members at Ryanair on a "company-imposed" pay offer after those members "unanimously" said it would be unacceptable to put the proposal to a vote in its current form.

Despite agreeing to recognise trade unions, Ryanair has been pushing through pay increases for pilots at a number of bases.

Fórsa warned Ryanair last month that pay deals must be negotiated through the union.

Yesterday, the union said that the pay deal being put by Ryanair to pilots "was not negotiated with Fórsa, as is normal when a union is recognised for collective bargaining".

It added: "Instead, it is a non-negotiated management package that predates the company's announcement that it would deal with the union." Fórsa said the current pay proposal from management "explicitly freezes" any further pay discussions with the union, "which undermines the company's offer to recognise Fórsa for collective bargaining in the airline".

"Management's view that acceptance of the package rules out future pay negotiations was underlined in subsequent correspondence," said the union.

It added that Ryanair's subsequent correspondence "confirms management's intention" to retain the ERC system, where the airline negotiates pay and conditions on a base-by-base basis, "which is incompatible with trade union recognition".

Ryanair was unavailable for comment at the time last night.