Friday 14 September 2018 9:20 am

Ryanair reaches agreement with three Italian unions over employment contracts

Budget airline Ryanair said it reached a agreement with three Italian cabin crew unions over pay and working conditions.

Ryanair met the FIT CISL, ANPAC and ANPAV unions in Rome yesterday where a set of principles were agreed as part of a collective labour agreement (CLA) which will take effect from 1 October.

The agreement, which is still being finalised, will run from three until December 2021 and will be governed by Italian law and courts. It will allow Italian cabin crew to transition to local contracts over an agreed period.

Union members have been demanding their employment contracts be locally rather than in Ireland where the rate of income tax is higher. Under the CLA staff will see an increase in their pay due to an increased tax free allowances. They will also have access to an Italian pension scheme.

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Ryanair’s chief people officer, Eddie Wilson, said: “We welcome this agreement with the three 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 September, 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.”

The news comes as Ryanair cabin crew from five countries yesterday confirmed a one-day strike on 28 September. Unions from Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium will launch the action over a dispute over contracts.