Ryanair strike: Airline signs agreement with German cabin crew union

The agreement is one step closer to ending the strike misery that has plagued Ryanair passengers

The row focuses on Ryanair’s practice of not employing staff on local labour contracts (Getty)

Ryanair has inked an agreement with the German cabin crew union, paving the way for the end of strikes that have disrupted passengers this year.

Ryanair has signed a collective labour agreement (CLA) with Verdi, which will cover all of the airline’s cabin crew in Germany, meaning staff will be subject to German labour law. The agreement will be put to workers next week.

The German unions that represent Ryanair staff have long been calling for better working conditions for its staff.

The airline has been beleaguered by strikes this summer. On 12 September, a one-day walkout called by German pilots and cabin crew affected around 150 out of 400 flights.

On 28 September, a co-ordinated walkout by a number of unions in Europe caused 250 flights to be cancelled, affecting around 40,000 passengers.

Over the past week, Ryanair has signed new recognition agreements with cabin crew unions in Greece and Sweden. Separately, Italian cabin crew voted in favour of the agreement signed between Ryanair and three main crew unions in Italy.

“We are pleased to sign this CLA agreement with Verdi, which will lead to pay improvements and other benefits for our German based cabin crew, subject to them voting in favour of this agreement over the coming week. This follows a very successful CLA ballot in Italy and recent cabin crew recognition agreements in Greece and Sweden,” says Ryanair’s chief people officer, Eddie Wilson.

“These are further concrete signs of the substantial progress Ryanair is making in concluding agreements with our people and their unions in many different EU countries.”

“After almost one year of negotiations, Verdi sees in the preliminary agreement a step for the improvement of the working conditions of the employees and their salaries,” the union said in a statement, although it added that it would comment further after discussions on 13 November.