THE TRADE UNION Impact has said that it has suspended a planned one-day strike of Ryanair pilots this Wednesday.
The move comes after the airline agreed to recognise the union as the representative of Irish-based pilots. Strikes planned by pilots in Portugal have also been called off.
Both sides will now meet on Tuesday evening.
Ryanair management confirmed on Friday that it would break with its longstanding policy and give pilot unions recognition as official organisations.
Irish Ryanair pilots who are members of Ialpa – which is part of the Impact trade union – announced last week that they would be holding a strike this Wednesday over the issue of union recognition and other employee conditions.
The strike was expected to cause disruption to passengers in the middle of the busy Christmas period.
Calling it off, however, Impact said in a statement: “The union acknowledged the principled determination of Ryanair pilots, which it said had made this breakthrough possible, and said it looked forward to establishing a positive relationship with Ryanair company management.
Impact added that it hoped the suspension of industrial action would remove any uncertainty for passengers intending to travel on Wednesday.
The union said it would make no further comment until after Tuesday’s meeting with Ryanair.
Posting on social media, Ryanair’s chief operating officer Peter Bellew described the move as “good news” and said “let’s get folks back home quietly for Xmas”.
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