Ryanair ground staff to set date for strike action

Up to 50 Ryanair ground staff are to meet at Dublin Airport today to set a date for a strike. If it goes ahead it would be the first at the company, which to date has refused to negotiate with trade unions.

Today's meeting follows the company's refusal to negotiate with SIPTU on pay and conditions for the ground staff, virtually all of whom have been members of the trade union since the end of last month.

In a letter to Mr Paul O'Sullivan of SIPTU yesterday, Ryanair's director of group operations, Mr Conor McCarthy, said rates of pay for the company's ground staff compared favourably with those of other ground staff at Dublin Aiport, and that it preferred to deal directly with its own staff.

Despite repeated efforts no one from Ryanair was contactable last night.

Mr O'Sullivan disagreed with the company's pay figures, as presented in yesterday's letter, and accused the company of "refusing to accept the decision of its employees who want to be represented by SIPTU".

Although Ryanair has never negotiated with a trade union, some of its cabin crew are members of SIPTU and its pilots belong to the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA).

Ground staff at the company joined SIPTU at the end of November following what they claim was the company's failure to honour a pay promise. During the summer Ryanair's chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, told the ground staff their pay would remain ahead of personnel employed by Servisair, a handling company at Dublin Airport. This was at a time when the Ryanair ground staff were considering joining SIPTU. The staff now maintain this promise has not been honoured.

On December 3rd SIPTU wrote to the company requesting a meeting to discuss "substantial" pay rises for the ground staff as well as "proper" overtime and shift rates, according to Mr O'Sullivan. They also wished to discuss health and safety issues, he said.

On December 12th SIPTU wrote to the company again. On December 18th it received an initial response from the company, dated December 11th, to which SIPTU replied on December 22nd, again requesting a meeting.

Later that day (December 22nd) Mr McCarthy wrote to the union saying the company dealt directly with its own staff and needed time to consider the situation. He said he would reply more fully within seven days. This he did in yesterday's letter.

Meanwhile, the ground staff decided overwhelmingly by secret ballot at a union meeting on Friday, December 20th, that they would take all-out industrial action if the company failed to deal with their pay claim.

Mr O'Sullivan said ground staff at Ryanair were earning an approximate average income of £13,000 a year, including a £108 monthly bonus for not being sick, while those at Servisair were on an approximate average of £16,000 a year.

If a member of the ground staff at Ryanair is absent through illness for one day a month he will lose £108. That figure rises to £216 if the employee misses work on the 1st and 31st of a relevant month. Mr O'Sullivan said that although this was presented as a bonus package, it was quoted by the company as part of the basic rate of pay for each employee.

He also said ground staff at Ryanair were paid time and a half for all overtime including Sundays and public holidays, with the first hour of overtime paid at the ordinary rate.