Ryanair pilots stage European-wide strike

Pilots at the Dublin, Ireland-based low-cost airline Ryanair went on strike Friday in Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany to demand improvements in working conditions, forcing the company to scrap 400 of its scheduled 2,400 European flights.

The company, whose business model revolves around paying the lowest wages and offering the most exploitative working conditions in the European airline industry, has for years set the benchmark for slashing wages and benefits throughout the entire airline industry.

Some 250 flights in and out of Germany were cancelled, with pilots at nine of 10 airports where Ryanair operates involved. 104 flights to and from Belgium were cancelled along with another 42 in Sweden and the airline’s home base, Ireland.

The strike met with wide support among airline workers. At Germany’s Frankfurt Airport, where supporters of the World Socialist Web Site distributed the statement “The Ryanair strike and the resurgence of international class struggle,” many airport workers expressed their solidarity with the strike.

Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/11/ryan-a11.html