Yahoo Finance Ryanair strike update: Airline wins High Court bid to stop proposed 48-hour pilot walkout in Ireland
Ryanair has won its Dublin High Court bid to stop a proposed pilot strike in Ireland this week.
Justice McDonald said he "would restrain the immediate industrial action" of around 180 pilots in Ireland who had planned to undertake a 48-hour strike action over pay conditions from 12.01am on Thursday.
The trial, which began in Dublin on Monday, heard from senior counsel for the airline, and the union representing the pilots, Forsa.
Justice McDonald said he would restrain Forsa "from directly or indirectly, organising, directing or endorsing their members to participate in a strike on 22nd and 23rd of August 2019".
The decision comes as Ryanair went to the High Court in London in a bid to block strike action, also due to begin on Thursday, by its UK pilots.
Thousands looking to travel between the UK and Ireland are looking at delays and cancellations over the busy bank holiday weekend.
In a statement released after the ruling, Ryanair said the decision "will come as a huge relief to thousands of Irish passengers and their families during the last week of the school holidays."
Update for Irish customers: pic.twitter.com/X1vaXKDNVs
— Ryanair (@Ryanair)
It added: "All Ryanair flights scheduled to depart on Thurs 22nd and Fri 23rd from Irish airports will now operate as normal."
The legal arguments in Dublin surrounded whether an agreement signed in the summer of 2018 through mediation at the Workplace Relations Commission was an "over-arching agreement" that covered pay conditions as well as seniority and annual leave.
Ryanair argued that the 2018 agreement covered issues surrounding salary, however Forsa and a number of named pilots say that the previous agreement only covered the issues that arose at that particular time.
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Ryanair in High Court bid to stop strike action by UK pilots
Martin Hayden SC, appearing for the airline, told the court in Dublin he found it "extraordinary" that the union claimed the 2018 agreement signed by both parties does not cover pay, and the union had shown "complete indifference" to resolving the dispute which will affect "hundreds of customers".
Forsa told the court that Ryanair has been "curt and dismissive" of a 30-page proposal it submitted to the company on pay and conditions, and at one point stated that the submission had "no basis in reality".
Their affidavit stated that Ryanair has no basis to apply for an injunction to stop strike action, as the previous agreement signed by both parties in summer 2018 was "not a full collective agreement".
Meanwhile, the British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) said on Monday that because Ryanair has "wasted time with unnecessary court action", their chance to resolve the dispute involving their pilots has been lost.
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