CityJet to meet union Unite at WRC in bid to halt strike

CityJet will meet the union Unite at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Wednesday in a bid to halt a strike at the Irish airline this week.

Pilots at CityJet’s Dublin base, whom the union represents, plan to strike on Thursday and Friday in a dispute over pay.

Unite confirmed that it had accepted an invitation from the commission to attend talks on Wednesday ahead of striking on Thursday.

The union's regional officer, Willie Quigley, said Unite has always said that it was willing to engage with CityJet, and it had now accepted the WRC's invitation. "However, unless tangible progress is made our members will be proceeding with the strike action scheduled to start at 00.01 hours this Thursday."

CityJet has said that only a minority of the pilots at Dublin are members of the union.

Unite says the dispute is over pay and a threat by the company to end its agreement with the union that it should represent pilots. According to the union, other issues include CityJet’s failure to adequately compensate pilots being shifted to its new base at Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Intervene

The company says it has always been prepared to engage with the union. Last week it called on the WRC to intervene in the strike, and released a statement calling for a halt to any industrial action on the basis that it was doing what the union asked.

Thursday and Friday are the first of 13 strike days scheduled by the union between now and Christmas. The others are timed for the same days – Thursday and Friday – of both next week and the week after that.

Unite is also threatening to strike on December 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd.

Union members at the airline have been engaged in limited industrial action since September, when pilots stopped flying outside their rosters. CityJet said this did not disrupt its services.

CityJet is an Irish regional airline that flies between a number of European cities. It is one of London City Airport’s biggest customers.