Aer Lingus Pilots to Strike
 

OFFICIAL: Aer Lingus pilots on strike from midnight Tuesday next - mandatory notice precludes earlier action.

From the Irish Times (www.ireland.com)


Pilots to strike over Belfast move

Aer Lingus pilots are to strike for 48 hours next week, claiming that a move to the airline's new hub in Belfast will see them employed on less favourable terms and conditions than they have in Dublin.

In a statement this evening, the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) branch of the Impact trade union said 480 pilots in its membership will strike on Tuesday August 21 st and Wednesday 22 nd .

The move is likely to cause widespread disruption to transport in and out of Ireland if it goes ahead.

"The strike has been called in response to Aer Lingus proposals to employ pilots at its new Belfast base on pay and terms and conditions of employment that are less favourable than at the existing Aer Lingus base in Dublin," the statement said.

"The pilot positions were advertised on the airline's website today and the company has confirmed to the union that it does not intend to honour existing collective agreements for pilots based in Belfast."

Pilots met at Dublin Airport this evening to discuss the new terms and conditions.

IALPA president, Captain Evan Cullen said that the move by Aer Lingus was "a flagrant breach of its collective agreements and of solemn commitments made by the airline to its employees in advance of last year's stock market flotation".

In a statement he added: "We are not going to allow Aer Lingus treat its Belfast based pilots as 2nd class citizens who can be paid less and treated worse than their colleagues in Dublin. Aer Lingus has freely entered into collective agreements that cover all pilots employed by the airline and we just want the company to honour its commitments."

"We are not going to allow Aer Lingus treat its Belfast based pilots as 2nd class citizens who can be paid less and treated worse than their colleagues in Dublin."

A shame that the KLM pilots didn't have the same willpower in respect of their British (ex KLMuk) based pilots.
Best of luck to the Shamrock crews.

aerlingus strike
 

hi all ,first post ,support ye 100%
ps / it is tuesday at midnight as i m going to amsterdam tuesday morning from cork . up the rebel county

what Aer Lingus is trying to do is dis mantle the union.....dismantle set agreements they signed up to.....dismantle collective agreements they signed upto under due process......Mr Mannion is either very sharp or very stupid doing this.


It effects all of us in the industry as if AL push this thru say GOOD BYE to BALPA, IALPA and all pilot unions that represent their members.

IALPA have played within the scope of their remit, AL are just trying to sh"t all over them.....

From the outside looking in:

An airline is opening a new base in a different country with T&C's matching local rates.

The home base pilots are protesting that the new hires won't get the same T&C's as they do.

For the benefit of me and no doubt others reading this can someone explain what is actually the issue here? and what grounds the strike is going ahead on?

What's the story with FR for eg and their many bases, do they have similar T&C's ?

mini, it is exactly the FR model that is to be avoided. Pilots must not out bid each other in a race to the bottom. FR is the unhappy place to work that it is precisely because with each new base T&C'c became worse.

I could be wrong, but didnt the shamrock pilots already sell out to management allowing newjoiners to start on different T&c's?

mini FR is not a comparison, as they are not unionised, so they can pay what they can get people to accept at whichever base they choose.

One company, one seniority list, one contract. No exceptions. What the company's doing is getting the pilots to subsidize the opening of a new base....what a deal! Aer Lingus management seems to be not only smoking the wacky tobbacy but they are inhaling as well. Go Evan!:ok:

Guys, I'm not taking sides here, just looking for the valid rationale behind the strike...

In these times unless EI has broken a binding agreement of some kind the strike will get hammered in the courts...

I think this will be viewed by Joe Soap Traveller (who doesn't care) as an emotional knee jerk reaction to the Shannon pullout.

If EI has broken an agreement surely the courts are the place to settle it?

What's the agenda?

Your average travelling guy still equates EI with DUB... more hassle can only reduce public sympathy surely?

FR are competitors therefore their T&C's are valid comparison in terms of cost base.

Capitalism sucks :*

I support this strike 100%. There is absolutely no reason why the BFS based pilots should get less. Belfast is not cheap these days either.

Well done to the AL pilots and good luck.

ps. FR have done enough to ruin this profession as it is, AL should not be benchmarked against them

well done top you all.respect!

A 'swift and solid response' in this instance amounts to shooting yourself in both feet. Why? Because the strike is against yourself as a shareholder!
O'Leary and company in Ryanair must be laughing all the way to higher profits at AL's and its employees (also shareholders) expense!
Cop on guys and gals and call off the 48 hour strike before it's too late.
Sit down with AL management and hammer out a meaningful agreement which will result in a lower cost base and which might raise a few eye brows elsewhere including Ryanair.
Meanwhile I must log on to FR's site and book those Manchester flights in Sept because I cannot rely on AL to deliver. Pity because I believe in competition.
Then again only for the competiton between FR and AL I would still be paying a fortune to AL like I used to 15 years ago.
Remember those years when it cost 250 Punts/330 Euro for flights between Irish and British Airports.
Did IALPA consider 48 hour strikes in those years because AL would not consider lower fares? Like hell they did because those were the years when Aer Lingus staff at all levels milked the passenger as much as possible with the connivance of the various Governments.
Despite all the criticism of MOL/Ryanair it was not until his/their arrival that AL went part of the way under Willie Walsh and became somewhat more competitive.
Mannion is trying to move all the AL staff along the competitve road but of course the various unions and staff at AL don't want to know. A lot has changed but not enough.
When will the Unions and AL Staff cop on to the reality of the situation as it is now and accept that the way forward is sitting down with AL management and agree to new more competitive work practices before it's too late - again!

It is refreshing to see pilots stick together on this one. Not just interested in there own conditions, but in that of the whole group. Solidarity will benefit the mayority in the end, and that is what counts. I support this and hope we will see more in the future. :ok:

The info I have for Dub crews (maybe outdated) is 92K for Captains and 57K for F/O's. Anyone confirm or deny this?

BR.

Got this on PPJN.

Brief Payscale(please ignore if the detailed payscale above is up to date)Capt top€176,306 (yr28)+ €79 over 520pa 21/Feb/06 Capt base€91,984 + €75 over 520pa FO top €121,602 (yr28)+ €55 over 502pa 21/Feb/06 FO baseE57,032 (year 1) 28/May/07 SO top
SO baseFE topFE baseFlight Pay / Per DiemCapt17 UK, 25 Eur, 92 US East, 130 US West FO17 / 25 / 92 /130 SOFEPension DetailsFinal Salary Scheme. Employee contribution 7%. Company contribution 21%. ConditionsRoster5 on / 3 off / 5 on / 2 off Leave44 days year 1 51 days year 20 Staff travelYes - STBY only Discounted holidaysNo

Aer lingus can still be competitive and offer cheap flights to the UK. Offering 30 new pilots at BFS the same as their Dublin counterparts is not going to change that!

This move is about splitting the pilot's union and creating a base with no career opportunities within Aer Lingus. It treats BFS as second class citizen's not worthy of as much pay as Dublin. I find it highly offensive.

The company should be brought to it's knee's over this

Things are changing, This not a semi-state anymore, all decisions need to be in the interest of shareholders........It would appear EI Pilots are paid well above market rate.......what do you expect from an ever evolving industry, where the emphasis is on reduciing costs and increasing productivity....?

The Good days are over.........for EI pilots.....

Well done, i'm 100% behind you.....:D