Bearing all the hallmarks of oppression: union avoidance in Europe's largest low-cost airline

Ryanair is now Europe’s largest low-cost airline. It is also one of the most controversial, due to its outspoken boss, its cost-containment strategies, and its hostile relations with organized labor. Ryanair has consistently denied accusations that it is antiunion, stating that it respects the right of workers to organize and even claiming to be a champion of its employees’ right to non-unionization. However, this claim does not hold up in the face of extensive evidence of union suppression. This article addresses such evidence, particularly, the various methods by which Ryanair has avoided and suppressed unions. In Ireland, Ryanair successfully crushed an organizing campaign by the country’s largest union, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, after a lengthy and bitter strike. The only other union continuing to challenge Ryanair is the Irish Airline Pilots Association. However, its efforts recently suffered a major setback when the Supreme Court ruled that Ryanair’s nonunion “employee representative committees” were a form of collective bargaining, allowing the company to affirm its nonunion status.