After a massive clash with trade unions over the right to negotiate a local collective agreement, Ryanair has announced it will be leaving Denmark. The dispute between the trade unions and the Irish airline started over Ryanair’s claim that it could employ local employees on Irish contracts; a dispute that resembles a previous clash with French unions reported in this newsletter in October 2013. Danish unions attempted to open collective negotiations, took the airline to court and now announced a strike in an attempt to be able to defend local employees’ labour rights. Ryanair challenged the legality of the strike, but was overruled by the Labour Court, which recognised the union’s right to strike and blockade Ryanair aircraft in case the airline refuses to negotiate a collective agreement. Ryanair has now said it will end operations at Copenhagen airport and will leave Billund airport too, unless the strike is called off. The city council of Copenhagen voted later on to stop all present and future investments in Ryanair because the working conditions offered by Ryanair are inconsistent with the values that the city adheres to.
English: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-quits …
https://www.etuc.org/press/danish-court-backs-trade-union …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.