Pilots at Emerald Airlines, the carrier which holds the regional franchise for Aer Lingus, have commenced a ballot for industrial action in response to an ongoing trade dispute with the airline.
The pilots are members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA), the professional association which represents pilots within Ireland, and a branch of the Fórsa trade union.
IALPA principal officer Owen Kelly said the dispute is due to the failure of the airline to engage with IALPA on forming a collective labour agreement for pilots employed at Emerald.
“The company does not recognise the trade union as the representative negotiating body for its pilots,” Mr Kelly said.
“We are balloting for industrial action, up to and including strike action, in order to provide pilots the opportunity to send a clear message to Emerald,” he added.
The electronic ballot of IALPA members at Emerald opened today and will close on Thursday 18 May.
Keith Butler, CEO of Emerald Airlines, said the company is actively engaged in direct dialogue and negotiations with its staff through its Employee Representative Group (ERG).
“We are surprised by IALPA’s unnecessary developments as we are continuing to progress positively with our internal discussions with pilot employee representatives,” Mr Butler said.
“We are pleased with the progress we are making with this direct engagement approach, having already resulted in our people achieving significant improvements in both pay and conditions within one year of Emerald Airlines operations,” he said.
“We continue to maintain an active and healthy dialogue directly with all of our employees including pilot employee representatives,” he added.