Anti-exploitation protest at Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Workers' rights campaigner John Foley has begun a rooftop protest at Liverpool John Lennon Airport to highlight the exploitation of cabin crew by Ryanair.
Ryanair Don't Care protest in Dublin
John Foley, founder of the Ryanair Don't Care campaign against the exploitation and scamming of cabin crew, has staged a protest outside the offices of Dalmac, a recruitment company in Dublin used by the airline.
The YouTube video below shows someone connected with the company mounting the pavement in her car to drive over John's banner and, at one point, almost run over him.
John also attended a recent meeting of our local to talk about the campaign and how we can actively support it. He told us: "I have never told anyone not to work for Ryanair. I want to make information available about their employment practises. It's then up to individuals to make a choice for themselves." He also insisted that attempts by Ryanair and its partners to intimidate him will be fruitless.
Liverpool SolFed join airport protest against Ryanair
A protest was held outside Liverpool John Lennon airport yesterday to highlight Ryanair's exploitation of employees and also remember Paul Ridgard, a Ryanair pilot who passed away in May of this year. More actions are planned for the future. SolFed are also making enquiries through the IWA/AIT about how we can help make the campaign against Ryanair go continental (our Spanish sister organisation, the CNT, has organised some workers at the airline, see here).
John Foley, founder of the Ryanair Don't Care campaign, speaks about yesterday's protest:
Ryanair Don't Care
Liverpool Solidarity Federation recently agreed to fully support the Ryanair Don't Care campaign, which was formed to highlight and fight against Ryanair's exploitative employment practises. Campaign founder John Foley has been arrested six times for his direct action activism against the airline. Blogs exposing Ryanair's mistreatment of employees have been closed down by sevice providers. Numerous Ryanair employees and ex-workers have also been in touch to share their negative experiences of working for the airline.
CNT vs. Ryanair
Ryanair workers in Zaragoza, Spain, are currently in dispute. The workers involved are members of the anarcho-syndicalist union, the CNT. The dispute started in March when Ryanair cut the hours of staff by reducing the working day. The strikers are also protesting at Ryanair’s refusal to make staff on temporary contracts permanent.
The dispute deepened when the delegate of the CNT’s union section in Ryanair received a letter of dismissal, for reasons of unsuitability, claiming a drop in the worker’s performance – a claim that is clear nonsense. Ryanair hoped that by sacking the CNT delegate the rest of the strikers would be intimidated back to work.