Ryanair demands Spanish crew return up to $3,397 after court ruling invalidates pay agreement
Irish airline Ryanair is asking some flight attendants to return as much as $3,397 they were given before a legal ruling made the payments void. Reports suggest that the airline wants Spanish flight attendants to give back the money since a pay agreement now stands invalidated.
Ryanair has told the Union Sindical Obrera (USO) that its members must return the money received under the deal, which was to run through five months, from October to March.
Complex union dispute leads to legal challenge
Ryanair had earlier reached an agreement with a separate union representing workers, the CCOO. Under it, hikes in salaries were offered to all cabin crew in Spain, regardless of their union affiliation. However, the USO objected to it and went to court. Payments made ranged from $1,698 to $3,397.
USO says the Ryanair-CCOO agreement was not legal
The USO told the court that the negotiators from the union neither had the legal authority to represent its members or finalize the agreement. The court ruled in favor of the USO and so the deal fell off and stood cancelled. With it all, arrangements of payments to the Spanish flight attendants also went down the drain.
Ryanair is now trying to recover the money it paid, but only to staff affiliated with the USO. The airline has told USO that it will take back additional wages paid during that time to USO-affiliated employees. However, those with the CCOO would be exempt from returning the money.
This was announced after Ryanair reached a separate deal with the CCOO union. Under it, CCOO-aligned workers are allowed to keep the additional money they received.
USO has alleged that Ryanair is trying to get USO workers to join the CCOO
Spokesperson for USO Ester Peyró Galdrán told Newsweek that Ryanair “threatened” workers would have to repay the money. Galdrán stated that the airline “announced that only CCOO-affiliated workers would be exempt from repaying.”
“They also encouraged (with constant emails and multiple deadline changes to do it) to sign up with CCOO to avoid the penalties.”
Meanwhile, a Ryanair spokesperson said that it is “complying with the court case that USO took to cut pay while it is under appeal.”
