Date Published: 19/08/2020
ARCHIVED - Ryanair pilots in Spain accept a 4-year pay cut to save jobs
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Ryanair faces the same extreme challenges as the rest of the airline sector
On Monday Ryanair finally officially announced that it would be cutting flights by 20% during September and October, one of the countries worst affected by its decision being Spain, principally due to the fall in bookings caused by the 14 day quarantine imposed by the British government.
Spain has always been one of the most important markets for the airline, which is one of many struggling to cope with the fall-out from the Covid crisis, and although demand for flights in the short-term has been significantly affected by the covid pandemic, the maintenance of a skilled workforce is also important for the anticipated acceleration in demand once the immediate challenges of covid have been resolved.
The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla) and Ryanair announced on Tuesday that they have signed an agreement through which the pilots' salary is reduced by 20% for four years in exchange for the commitment of the Irish low cost airline to maintain their jobs, due to the forecasted very slow recovery of the airline sector.
The text of the agreement was put to a vote and has been endorsed by more than 80% of the crew members affiliated with Sepla, a union that represents almost 90% of the total group in the company.
Sepla says that "it is a text that seeks to guarantee the survival of the company in the worst crisis in the history of aviation, providing the necessary strength so that pilots and the company can regain activity when demand in the sector recovers. ".
In addition to the employment guarantee, Ryanair has undertaken to continue negotiations between the parties until a collective bargaining agreement is reached.
The agreement also states that the figure of the ERTE will be used through extended formulas for reductions in working hours, so that the existing work is distributed equitably among the entire group.
The Sepla Union Section at Ryanair has pointed out that, despite having obtained favorable judgments in almost all the legal proceedings against the company (see: The National Court annuls Ryanair's ERE for "abuse of rights"), “the exceptionality of the situation caused by COVID-19 requires that the resolution of conflicts be reached through agreements between workers and the company ”. In this regard, they hope that the agreement will be executed in good faith by Ryanair and will prevent the current situation in the airline sector from serving as a pretext for unilateral reforms.