Catherwood LibraryILR School

The European low-cost flight service, Ryanair, has canceled hundreds of flights as workers prepare to go out on strike. The company’s CEO has a history of expressing anti-union sentiment, consequently, unions were just recently granted recognition by the airline. One of the major sources of employee discontent comes from Ryanair using foreign-employment contracts, thus subjecting workers all over Europe to Irish labor laws. This employment arrangement creates tremendous inconvenience for workers- many find it difficult to open bank accounts, purchase phone plans, and access unemployment benefits in their home countries. An additional grievance that workers will protest in the upcoming strike is the use of third party hiring services and contractors, as opposed to hiring regular flight crews.