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LAST UPDATE | 29 Jun 2024
HUNDREDS OF AER Lingus pilots marched around Dublin Airport during an eight-hour strike this morning as part of the ongoing dispute over pay which has seen hundreds of flights cancelled during the busiest travel season.
The pilots, all in full uniform, set off at 6am from Aer Lingus’s head office on the airport site and walked past the two terminal buildings twice holding placards and banners.
The demonstration, which took place in pouring rain, caused major traffic disruption around the airport.
After the march was concluded, pilots set up a picket line at the main roundabout on the entrance to the airport.
.@IALPA members taking part in strike action today. pic.twitter.com/lLqluvGZJb
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) June 29, 2024
Today’s all-out strike is part of a broader strike, with pilots starting indefinite work-to-rule industrial action this week.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, pilots in Boston, Orlando and Seattle formed pickets in support of Aer Lingus pilots. Those who participated are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
Members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA) are seeking a pay increase of 23.8% over three years, which it says is “clearly reasonable and affordable for a profitable company such as Aer Lingus”.
The union noted that in 2023, Aer Lingus had a full year operating profit of €225 million.
This was a 400% increase on 2022, when a full year operating profit of €45 million was recorded.
However, Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.5% or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.
Both sides are at an impasse. IALPA reps said yesterday that chances of an additional strike and further industrial action are high after talks in the 22-month dispute over pay broke down on Thursday.
A spokesperson told The Journal on Thursday: “The IALPA executive is considering a further work stoppage due to the companies clear escalation today by informing IALPA that it will unilaterally terminate the standing collective agreements, should IALPA not agree to amend them.”
However, the union has rolled back on any planned escalation and both sides have agreed to attend the Labour Court on Monday.
Aer Lingus cancelled an additional 122 flights next week due to the action, bringing the number of cancelled flights to 392.
With reporting from Diarmuid Pepper, Jane Matthews and Press Association
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They went full Islamist so it’s not a surprise.
@Alex: By having a Muslim leader you mean?
@Alex: have you ever been to scoland lad ,laddie or anything thing else you want to be know as , sectarian poverty, enormous wealth and religions that done everything to each other and still slaughtered our Islam friends ,
Very strange headline from PA / The Journal. Scottish independence movement is not at an end and won’t be until Scotland gains its independence again.
SNP can now all fit in sturgeon’s dodgy camper van….
@David Cotter: interesting that all that has gone very quiet. No court dates.
Constant moaning while they are funded by Westminster. And to say that he still in his heart and soul believes in Scottish Independence just shows how out of touch he is. At least his constituents seem to know which side their bread is buttered on. In comparison it seems he wants it buttered on both sides
@Fintan Neelan: very narrow view
U use the resources given to you ..
Would you rather they abstained like SF ?
NEVER happy
And SF is the 5th largest party in the UK! You can’t control borders if you don’t own your own borders. A United Ireland is inevitable
@D. Peadar:
If Shin Fein are serious about a United Ireland they need to start trying to convince the nationalists/catholics /wolf tone cd owners it’s a good idea.
The Scottish Independence movement has NOT collapsed. Independence led by 2% in the last poll a fortnight ago. It is simply much more than the SNP, which got a huge vote, just not as huge as Labour and the first past the post system flipped them out. Other parties and voters also support independence.
The first past the post system is very odd.
@Washpenrebel: How is winning by getting the most votes odd?
@Vincent Wallace: do you not think winning nearly two-thirds of the seats with a little more than one-third of the vote is odd? Do you not think the Liberal Democrats getting fewer votes than Reform but more than ten times as many seats is odd?
Just a few years ago, the UK appeared to be falling apart over Brexit and under Johnson and Truss. That moment is gone now but it would be very foolish to think it couldn’t come back again. Anything is possible.
@N M: the UK is falling apart,why do you think the tory party just got crushed
The Nicola Sturgeon debacle coupled with wanting to get the tories out of power right now lead to their poor showing. I doubt it’s changed one persons mind on independence. It’s just on the back burner until they can regroup.
The Scots never really wanted independence, only the romantic right to want it. I mean come on! They had their chance once, and said no. Put the independence question to bed and move on.
@Keth Tgi:
Watching Braveheart and painting their face blue seemed to work for a while.
All the SNP need is a new leader to continue the legacy of the past, perhaps Shane Codd or Rob Herring.
That’s what happen when you let Islamists in command. They made a mess of it. Frankly, that was laughable
Themselves and the fianna failers would make the mafia look like choirboys
have your say