The Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) has agreed to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in a bid to resolve a dispute over union recognition and pay with cargo airline ASL Ireland.
IALPA said while it has agreed to attend talks, it is not suspending threatened strike action.
Pilots at ASL, who are members of IALPA, are planning to take part in a 16-hour strike from 5pm with pickets being place outside the airline’s Dublin headquarters and at its Leipzig office.
Another 16-hour work stoppage is due to take place on Thursday, with further strike action threatened next week, which would run from 22-24 December.
The action has the potential to cause major disruption during the busy Christmas delivery period.
ASL Airlines Ireland operates as a major distributor of parcel and cargo services on behalf of Amazon, UPS, DHL and FedEx.
“Our members have engaged with the company in good faith for weeks with the clear aim of securing a recognition agreement and beginning negotiations on a collective labour agreement,” said IALPA Vice-President Captain Daniel Langan.
“Instead of engaging, ASL has chosen to walk away from the table multiple times, we welcome the intervention of the WRC and hope to find resolution for our members,” he said.
On Friday, ASL said it had requested the services of the WRC in a bid to avert the strike action.
ASL said it had engaged extensively with IALPA but that an impasse had been reached.
“Consequently, the airline hopes that conciliation talks in the WRC is the most appropriate way to find a mutually acceptable solution,” ASL said in a statement on Friday.
“ASL Airlines Ireland has written to IALPA asking that they accept an invitation to talks in the WRC, and to suspend their strike notice to allow these talks to proceed to resolution.
“The current impasse centres on ASLI’s desire to ensure that there is no commercial conflict of interest between negotiators for the pilots and the airline,” the company said last week.
