IALPA/IMPACT WITHDRAWAL
Ryanair Holdings PLC
14 January 2008
IALPA/IMPACT WITHDRAW CLAIMS AGAINST RYANAIR
DUBLIN PILOT RECOGNITION CASE COLLAPSES
Ryanair today (Monday, 14th January 2008) arrived at the Labour Court for the
scheduled hearing, which was ordered by the Supreme Court into IALPA/IMPACT 's 4
year old claims on behalf of the Dublin pilots. However IALPA/IMPACT failed to
show, having withdrawn their claims at the last minute, which has collapsed the
IALPA/IMPACT case.
This case stems from attempts by IALPA/IMPACT to use the Industrial Relations
Acts 2001 and 2004 to impose inefficient union practices on high pay, non union
companies like Ryanair through the back door of the Labour Court. Ryanair has
always contended that this legislation does not apply to high pay multinational
companies such as Ryanair, and this claim was successful in the Supreme Court.
This was why the Supreme Court directed that the case be reheard in front of the
Labour Court. The collapse of the IALPA/IMPACT case represents another
humiliating defeat for the Aer Lingus pilots union following their loss in the
Supreme Court, and their bill for Ryanair's legal costs (estimated at over €1m).
Today's climb down by IALPA/IMPACT exposes the false claims in their press
release of 1st February last on the day of the Supreme Court ruling. On that
date IMPACT's Michael Landers claimed:
'We see this ruling as no more than a temporary set back'.
'We look forward to an early rehearing and believe we have a strong case
which we will present to the Labour Court in full accordance with the
guidelines and principles laid down by the Supreme Court today'.
The real losers - sadly - in this defeat have been Ryanair's Dublin pilots, who
were misled and misguided by IALPA/IMPACT for the past four years. These pilots,
acting on advice from IALPA/IMPACT, withdrew from the internal collective
bargaining system in Ryanair, and as a result they missed out on pay increases
and share options in 2005, 2006 and again in 2007. These pay increases and share
options were worth up to €80,000 for each Dublin Captain. Ryanair believes that
its Dublin pilots should strongly consider taking an action for damages against
IALPA/IMPACT for its misleading advice and this humiliating defeat and last
minute withdrawal. As usual Ryanair's pilots have been dumped by an Aer Lingus
union.
Speaking this morning on the steps of the Labour Court, Ryanair's Eddie Wilson
said:
'IALPA/IMPACT have spent over 20 years trying and failing to unionise
Ryanair. Their false promises and false claims have cost our Dublin
pilots considerable sums of money. Perhaps it is time that the trade
unions in Ireland recognised that they have no role to play in high pay
multi-national companies like Ryanair, where our sophisticated internal
collective bargaining arrangements deliver better pay, faster promotions
and better working conditions for our people than those being delivered
to union members by our unionised competitors.
'We trust that those outlets in the Irish media, who routinely give
undue weight to false claims being made by unions, will in future make a
better effort to report on these matters in Ryanair with some
objectivity and balance. The fact that Mr Landers claimed in February
that the Supreme Court ruling was a 'temporary set back' and that 'he
looked forward to an early rehearing at the Labour Court', only to
withdraw all of these claims at the eleventh hour, highlights the extent
to which the unions mislead and spin on matters relating to Ryanair.
'We welcome this latest defeat for IALPA/IMPACT, the Aer Lingus pilot
union, which is another victory for Ryanair's people and secures their
right to continue to negotiate directly with us for many years into the
future. The real lesson in this shambles for Ryanair's Dublin pilots, is
that their best interests can only be secured by negotiating directly
with the company to improve pay and conditions while ignoring the false
claims and misleading advice from IALPA/IMPACT which has yet again cost
Ryanair's Dublin pilots many thousands of euro.'
Ends. Monday, 14th January 2008
For further information
please contact: Peter Sherrard Ryanair Pauline McAlester Murray Consultants
Tel. +353-1-8121212 Tel. +353-1-4980300
This information is provided by RNS
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