Aer Lingus has welcomed pilots within the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association voting to accept the Irish Labour Court's pay deal recommendation.
“Aer Lingus welcomes the outcome of the ballot which has accepted the Labour Court recommendation," the airline said in a brief statement today, July 23.
The statement comes after members of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) voted to recommend acceptance of the terms of the Labour Court recommendation (23007) concerning the pay dispute between IALPA and Aer Lingus.
Irish trade union Fórsa, which IALPA is a branch of, said on Tuesday that members of the pilot body backed the terms of the recommendation by a margin of 85% on a 96% turnout.
The ballot closed at 9 am this morning, July 23, following a series of engagements with pilot members.
Work-to-rule industrial action by pilots, which commenced in June, was suspended on July 10 following the decision of the IALPA executive to recommend a vote in favour of the recommendation by the Labour Court.
"Well done to IALPA pilots for a huge win," Fórsa said on Wednesday. "This is what workers can achieve when they stand together and fight for better pay!"
Aer Lingus pilots have voted YES to pay increase of 17.75%.
The pay deal is until December 2026.
Well done to @Ialpa pilots for a huge win. This is what workers can achieve when they stand together and fight for better pay! #JoinAUnion
— Fórsa trade union (@forsa_union_ie) July 23, 2024
On June 26, IALPA commenced its work-to-rule industrial action, and staged an eight-hour pilot's strike on June 29, in response to the ongoing pay dispute.
The industrial action prompted Aer Lingus to cancel more than 500 flights.
IALPA had been seeking a pay rise of nearly 24% to take account of inflation since their last wage increase in 2019. Aer Lingus, however, had said it could not go beyond the 12.5% increase agreed upon with cabin and ground crews without greater productivity from pilots.
After engagements with Aer Lingus, IALPA, and Fórsa, the Irish Labour Court recommended on July 8 that pilots' pay be increased by 17.75% over a four year period.
Aer Lingus accepted the recommendation and encouraged pilots to do the same. After seeking clarification on some elements of the recommendation, IALPA also accepted the terms on July 10 and, in turn, suspended its industrial action.
While the IALPA executive moved to recommend that its members accept the deal, pilots still had to vote on the matter, which they ultimately approved by 85%.
In the wake of the ballot, Captain Mark Tighe, President of IALPA, said on RTÉ Radio on Tuesday morning: "The pay rise is actually 19.2% - two years from now, everybody will be 19.2% better off, with our bottom 20% of pilots and all new joiners will be 30% better off.
"We had a ballot result just in this morning with a turnout of 96% with 85% of pilots accepting the deal.
"The deal is now accepted."
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