Heightened industrial action at Aer Lingus ‘on the table’ if Labour Court talks break down, warns pilots union

An escalation of industrial action is “clearly on the table” if talks at the Labour Court on Monday between Aer Lingus and the union representing pilots fails to “produce a result”, the president of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) has said.

Both sides will return to the court on Monday afternoon in a bid to break the deadlock over the bitter pay dispute at the carrier.

It follows five consecutive days of industrial action undertaken by pilots represented by Ialpa, part of the trade union Fórsa, including an eight-hour stoppage on Saturday that forced Aer Lingus to cancel a further 120 flights. Some 500 Aer Lingus pilots marched in the rain around Dublin Airport on Saturday as part of the stoppage.

Late last week, both sides accepted an invitation from the Labour Court to return to the table on Monday after a previous round of discussion broke down last Tuesday.

A separate round of talks between the two sides collapsed on Thursday after what the pilot body’s president, Cpt Mark Tighe, described as an “escalation” of the dispute by the International Airlines Group (IAG)-owned carrier.

Reports over the weekend suggested Ialpa had lowered its pay demand in recent talks but the offer was now off the table following the collapse of those discussions, it is understood.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Cpt Tighe confirmed Ialpa was open to considering a future offer below the 24 per cent pay increase sought by the union but stressed the decision to accept it would ultimately be up to members.

Speaking on the Anton Savage Show on Newstalk on Sunday, Cpt Tighe also denied the union had lost its leverage in the negotiations by launching Saturday’s stoppage. The eight-hour strike by Ialpa members lasted from 5am to 1pm and affected Aer Lingus flights in and out of Ireland, impacting some 17,000 passengers.

On Friday, Aer Lingus cancelled another 122 flights from July 3rd to 7th in response to the pilots’ ongoing work to rule, impacting the travel plans of another 20,000 passengers.

“This strike is not complete,” he said. “We have not shot the shot. We are here as pilots for our careers. We’re here for 30 or 40 years. Our current chief executive is my 16th or 17th and this executive team will come and go but we’re here for the duration. The pilots are not going to back down.”

He said pilots would give the Labour Court “an opportunity to apply its experience” on Monday. “But ultimately, if the company does not accede to what is a reasonable cumulative claim, the pilots will just continue fighting.”

Cpt Tighe said Fórsa president Kevin Callinan was “probably correct” in his suggestion that the failure of the fresh round of talks would have “the most dire consequences” including an escalation of industrial action.

“We can’t rule out what will happen if the Labour Court intervention fails to produce a result but the solution lies with management,” he said. “But increased industrial action is clearly on the table.”

A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus declined to comment in advance of the latest talks. On Saturday, the carrier said it hoped the engagement with the Labour Court would “result in an outcome that will bring normality to the travelling public”.