The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has today set strike dates for UK-based Ryanair pilots following an industrial action ballot which closed today.

The ballot saw 80% vote in favour of strike action on a 72% turnout.

The BALPA National Executive Council (NEC) met today and authorised the strike action. BALPA members in Ryanair will be asked to take strike action as follows:

• From 0001 on 22nd August until 2359 on 23rd August

And

• From 0001 on 2nd September until 2359 on 4th September

Decades of Ryanair refusing to deal with unions has resulted in two things. Firstly, a management that apparently doesn’t understand how to work with unions, and secondly a company that doesn’t have a number of standard agreements that any union would reasonably expect in any workplace.
That is why our claim includes many issues including pensions; loss of license insurance; maternity benefits; allowances; and a fair, transparent, and consistent pay structure.

We have made no progress with Ryanair management on any of those areas at all, seemingly because Ryanair management cannot understand how to go about working with us constructively, or how to negotiate. Ryanair has made no offer to BALPA in respect of its pilots.

Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary, said “We have had no formal offer from Ryanair and it is imperative that we resolve this dispute urgently to avoid strike action. No pilot wants to spoil the public’s travel plans but at the moment it seems we have no choice.”

This dispute is separate and unconnected to the current dispute in British Airways.