Ryanair has signed a union recognition deal with the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA), the first of its kind since the airline reversed its policy in December on organized labour.
The air carrier confirmed the deal on Tuesday, saying that BALPA would now be the sole representative body for Ryanair-employed pilots in the UK that is one of its largest markets.
Britain is home to one of the largest bases of Ryanair that is Stansted Airport.
Around one in four of the carrier’s 4,000-plus pilots are based in the United Kingdom along with 100 of its 400 aircraft.
The official statement of the airline stated that this agreement follows negotiations with BALPA since the announcement of Ryanair in December that it was ready to recognize unions for collective bargaining purposes.
Ryanair agreed to recognise unions in December after there were strike threats from members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) and equivalent groups in Germany, Italy and Portugal.
BALPA was not one of the unions whose Ryanair-employed members had once threatened industrial action.
However it did start talks with the airline in mid-December, along with few other unions.
Brian Strutton, BALPA general secretary said that he was glad to announce that Ryanair had recognised the union as having sole negotiating rights for its UK pilots.
