European Employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen told Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary on Wednesday that the Irish airline must respect EU rules and give workers contracts according to where they live.

The Belgian commissioner told the Ryanair chief executive that EU rules on employment for mobile air crews were clear - based not on the flag of the aircraft, but the place where workers left in the morning and returned in the evening.

"Respecting the law is not something over which workers should have to negotiate and not something that can be postponed to a later date," Thyssen said in a statement.

Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, has said it plans to cancel 150 flights on Friday due to a strike over working conditions by cabin crews in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

O'Leary said he and Thyssen had discussed local contracts during their meeting, "and the fact that we have offered them already," he added.

Ryanair employs staff across Europe under Irish contracts, but some unions want the ability to negotiate terms under the employment laws of their own country.

For Belgium, the airline has agreed to follow local employment law from March 2020. Belgian union CNE said this change would only affect about half of its workers. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie