Well to begin with I have a right to work in the EU... that's why I'm involved.
Oh good, we are equally qualified. Except of course that I am actually an EU citizen as well. The location from which I am typing is irrelevant.
Now it sounds like you have issues with former Eastern Block Nation pilots. Whose next... the Asians.
Comprehension problems again... I have no issue with any ethnic group, but it is a simple fact that the two groups you mention will work for less than the going rate, just to secure residency in a country with a better economic outlook. Why do you think the economy of California is so heavily dependent on wetback labour? Same principle. Whether Ryanair pay them fairly is a moot point, and you have to look at the wider picture in any case. My sole concern with some of the Eastern Europeans I have come across in LCCs is their poor grasp of english.
You are clueless about pay issues for Eastern Block pilots in Europe. They are normal wages as are entry level or DECs for Ryanair, Easyjet and alike.
So are you, it seems:
Yes I heard stories of 14 people in a class with 14 different contracts... very confusing and leads to resentment.
Well, which is it?
AMEX
Yet from reading MOR's posts, I was under the impression that he was having a go at the Yanks flying overhere and therefore was directing his hits at these guys who are actually nothing more than working wherever there is work meeting their T&Cs requirements as well as the local authorities ones.
Not at all. I have no issues whatsoever with pilots working wherever they legally can, and in many ways professional pilots are true internationalists. My ONLY issue is with national authorities opening the doors to foreign pilots when there is already a pool of qualifed people in their own back yard, and where the reasons for doing so are purely economic. As far as taking it up with Irish Immigration, they are simply responding to a request from both the airline in question and the IAA. As others have noted, there is a cosy little club operating here.
So sometimes it bothers me when people are having a go at others for stealing "their" mate's jobs blah blah blah.
If it is legal and sanctionned by the relevant authorities then why not?
Firstly, for the reasons stated above, but secondly - and more importantly - because there is no reciprocity. If the US opened its doors to foreign pilots on the same basis that the Irish apprently have, I would be more than happy to say no more on the subject. But, of course, they won't.
Anyone unhappy about it should vote for a different government hoping they ll change things (as if any government would do anything else other than filling their pockets and own aspirations).
Precisely...