Labour Court to intervene in Aer Lingus pilots dispute

The Labour Court is to formally intervene in the ongoing pay dispute between Aer Lingus management and the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA), with a hearing to be held tomorrow.

The court has asked that there be no escalation of the dispute but the current work-to-rule by IALPA members at Aer Lingus will remain in place.

The Labour Court met with the two sides for more than 8 hours yesterday before informing the parties that it will exercise its right to intervene in the dispute under the Industrial Relations Act.

The court has requested final written submissions to be made by the parties by close of business today.

A recommendation from the Labour Court will be issued following on from tomorrow’s hearing.

Aer Lingus management and IALPA left the court last night shortly after 11pm.

IALPA President Captain Mark Tighe said the company had refused to move from its original position and continued to request flexibility and productivity changes in exchange for any pay increases beyond the 12.25% already agreed with other groups of workers.

He also claimed Aer Lingus had brought forward new demands that the Labour Court had not seen before.

“I am left, as before, with the hope that the court will be able to write a recommendation that will acknowledge the reasonableness of the pilots’ claim,” Captain Tighe said.

Speaking as he left the talks, Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty described the engagement with the Labour Court as constructive.

“The court’s assessment was that the best approach it could take at this time was to formally intervene and to conduct a formal hearing,” Mr Moriarty said.

“Aer Lingus was open to reaching a solution using all avenues available to it, we outlined those details to the court, and it has determined that a formal hearing is the best next step to take,” he added.

On Saturday, Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of IALPA, took part in an 8-hour strike.

They are also continuing with an indefinite work-to-rule which began last Wednesday

The industrial action has so far led to the cancellation of 392 flights with more disruption on the way if a resolution is not found.

The pilots are seeking a pay rise of up to 24% to take account of inflation since their last wage increase in 2019.

However, Aer Lingus is seeking agreement on productivity and flexibility in return for any pay increases that go beyond the 12.25% agreed with other groups of workers at the company.

On Thursday, management and union representatives met face to face for five hours, but the talks broke down without agreement.

IALPA said it had offered to move from its 24% pay demand but accused the company of failing to reciprocate.

On Friday, the Labour Court issued a fresh invitation to the two parties to attend yesterday’s meeting.

The development saw IALPA back down from a plan to escalate the industrial action.