By David Young and Grainne Ni Aodha, PA
Updated at 10:05
Aer Lingus pilots union leader Mark Tighe has accused the airline of moving from “negotiation phase to union busting phase.”
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Tighe said pilots did not want to be in this situation, but it was the “level of corporate greed” in Aer Lingus that had led to the current dispute.
“Pilots in the union do not want to be in this situation, but because of how executive management espouses a particular level of corporate greed, where they themselves have got a 66 percent increase, they won't accept the reasonability of an accumulative inflationary pay increase.
“They say that our parent company IAG won't stand over this, but it has already stood over an increase in excess of 24 percent to our colleagues in a company that has the same operating margin as we are.
“It's simply untrue that Aer Lingus is underperforming with an operating margin of 9.9 percent, pretty much the same as British Airways and other European airlines. This company is profitable. It made €225 million last year, forecast a massive increase in profits going forward. This is corporate greed.”
Passengers were important to pilots, he said, they did not want to see them impacted, but what was happening was as a result of management actions and their refusal “to acknowledge that they should have been dealing with inflation as they went along.”
Ialpa had been “writing continuously” to the airline seeking a meeting. “We said name a time, a place, a date. We'll be there. They have not come back with anything. They've moved on now from negotiation phase to a union bust phase. They are now attacking individual pilots, and we can expect to see those attacks escalating.”
Mr Tighe said that the pilots had the support of other staff within Aer Lingus. Pilots were not looking to improve their pay, they just wanted to maintain their pay.
“Other staff and unions can see what the what's going on with. They can see the greed. We have tremendous support from our colleagues. They understand that it's a reasonable claim.”
It comes as industrial action by Aer Lingus pilots that has already seen 270 flights cancelled has begun.
The indefinite work-to-rule commenced at midnight with pilots now refusing to work overtime, accept changes to set rosters, or take on out-of-hours management requests.
An eight-hour strike is also planned for Saturday.
A message to our customers:
The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) has announced a strike on 29 June 2024 from 5am to 1pm, in addition to the existing work to rule action from 26 June. This will cause major disruption to our customers. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/T1LABKBMFg— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) June 21, 2024
The travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers have been affected, with the airline having been working to offer refunds or alternative flights to those whose trips have been axed.
A resolution to the bitter dispute over pay does not look imminent after the Irish Labour Court told both sides on Tuesday it will not be intervening at the present time.
The airline and the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), a branch of the Forsa trade union, have been involved in a heated exchange of words in recent days, with each accusing the other of not engaging.
The pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24 per cent, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.
Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.5 per cent or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.
Both sides agreed to attend separate meetings at the Labour Court in Dublin on Tuesday to provide briefings on the industrial stand-off.
Read more here: https://t.co/f6pX8mNS1g
— Fórsa trade union (@forsa_union_ie) June 21, 2024
After its meeting, Aer Lingus said it was “disappointed” the court had assessed that it could not currently assist to bridge the gap between the sides.
“Aer Lingus has made it clear that it remains available for discussions both directly and through the state’s industrial relations framework,” the airline’s statement added.
“Aer Lingus will continue to focus on minimising the disruption caused to customers by Ialpa’s industrial action.
“Aer Lingus is calling upon Forsa/Ialpa to consider the damage that its continued industrial action is inflicting upon passengers, the company and the Irish economy.”
Emerging from the court, Ialpa president Mark Tighe made clear the action would proceed.
“The actions continue as they are notified and will continue until there is a resolution,” he said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has asked both sides to “dig deep” in an attempt to come to a resolution.
He said it is “absolutely vital” that both sides engage in talks to find a resolution.
“My challenge to the parties now is to bring that engagement forward, rather than putting people through a prolonged period of agony and chaos, and then engaging in the end anyway,” Mr Harris said on Tuesday.
“This dispute will be settled the same way every dispute is settled: compromise, engagement, sitting around a table. That’s what needs to happen.”
He said there would be “very little sympathy” for anybody involved in cancelling family holidays and disrupting the tourism sector if they are not engaging “intensively”.
Additional reporting Vivienne Clarke
