(Alliance News) - Irish pilots of Ryanair Holdings PLC have voted in favour of industrial action over pay, trade union Forsa said on Friday.
Shares in Ryanair were down 3.0% at EUR8.92 in London in afternoon trade.
Around 180 pilots directly employed by the budget airline in Ireland, and who are members of the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, were eligible to vote. A 94% majority favoured the industrial action.
The Forsa announcement follows that of the British Airline Pilots Association, which is also planning strikes after an industrial action vote. The British strikes will take place from August 22 until August 23 and from September 2 until September 4.
Forsa said it submitted a pay claim to Ryainair in late March in which it sought "pay levels and structures that are in line with sector norms".
However, according to the union, the airline's "management has stalled in negotiations on pay and related matters" since the pay claim was submitted.
Ian McDonnell, assistant general secretary at Forsa, said: "Ryanair's directly-employed Irish-based pilots are simply seeking pay levels that are common and competitive in the commercial airline sector, from a company that made a more-than-healthy profit of EUR1 billion last year."
"They feel they have been forced into contemplating potentially-disruptive industrial action by a company that seems either unwilling or unable to negotiate in a professional and constructive manner. At this stage, only a substantive counter-proposal, which properly addresses all areas of our claim, will be enough to prevent us serving notice of industrial action next week."
Forsa is required to give a week's strike notice and McDonnell has said industrial action is avoidable if Ryanair engages "professionally and constructively in talks".
Forsa will not issue a further comment before next week so that Ryanair can "respond to its claim".
