Revolution at Ryanair: Collective Labour Agreement with Italian cabin crew governed by Italian law!

The lines are moving at Ryanair. The end of the exclusively Irish labour contracts is nearing. For the first time in its history, Ryanair is accepting to negotiate contracts under the laws of other countries.

Earlier this week already, Ryanair was lobbying the Irish government to change tax regulations so it could contract staff under laws of their home country.

And now, for the first time, a CLA governed by Italian law is being negotiated with three Italian cabin crew unions (FIT CISL, ANPAC and ANPAV, but a fourth one, UILtrasporti, is not mentioned). Will that is sufficient to avoid a cabin crew strike in other countries on 28 September?

RYANAIR REACHES AGREEMENT WITH ITALIAN UNIONS ON OUTLINE TERMS OF A COLLECTIVE LABOUR AGREEMENT (CLA)

Ryanair today (14 Sept) confirmed that it met in Rome yesterday with the 3 main cabin crew unions FIT CISL, ANPAC, and ANPAV, and a set of agreed principles were signed, which will form the basis of a comprehensive Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) to cover Ryanair’s Italian based cabin crew from 1 Oct 2018. The parties agreed that they are “now in the final stages of concluding final terms and conditions of a CLA”, which will:

• Run for 3 years from Fri 1 Oct 2018 to 31 Dec 2021
• Be governed by Italian law and the Italian Courts
• Allow Italian cabin crew transition to local contracts over an agreed period
• Deliver increased pay under a new pay structure, which will see crews benefit from increased tax-free allowances (similar to other Italian airlines)
• Introduce an Italian Pension Scheme as part of the overall package

Ryanair’s Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said:

“We welcome this agreement with the 3 Italian cabin crew unions on the terms of a Collective Labour Agreement (CLA), which will cover all of our Italian based cabin crew, and will start from next month. This agreement follows recent cabin crew agreements in Ireland with FORSA and in the UK with UNITE.

We expect to sign this first CLA for our Italian cabin crew before the end of Sept, which will lead to significant pay improvements and other benefits for our Italian based cabin crew. This agreement is a further sign of the significant progress Ryanair is making in reaching agreements with our people and their unions in different EU countries, and disproves false claims made by smaller unions not involved in these negotiations, and who are threatening strikes later this winter, which will either not take place or be unsuccessful.”