In its response to BHRRC’s enquiry, Ryanair states that the aviation industry is facing an “unprecedented crisis”. That part is clear – no one is disputing the fact that a global pandemic has ravaged the industry, and that a lot of changes are underway, with all stakeholders trying to adapt to a new situation. What ETF has been noticing for months now, however, is attempts by various airlines to crush workers’ organising and attack workers’ rights under the guise of this crisis, sometimes by circumventing legitimate workers’ representatives.

The case at hand – three union leaders, fired one day after the union went public – is precisely that. We believe that it is no coincidence that Ryanair has chosen to dismiss these three individuals, and it seems that they aim to intimidate the workforce and prevent further organising. At the ETF, we are familiar with such practices by Ryanair, especially in Eastern Europe.

Ryanair also claims that they’re working with their “people” to preserve jobs. For those less familiar with Ryanair’s corporate talk, what they mean by “people” is their employees, their workers. By calling them “people”, they might be trying to avoid placing too much responsibility on the relationship, and they include all those working as (in our opinion, bogus) self-employed cabin crew or pilots. What’s particularly preposterous about this claim, in this case, is the fact that the company has refused so far to engage with B.United in any way. While in some other EU countries, Ryanair has been negotiating with unions during the COVID-19 crisis, they most certainly have not done so in the Czech case.