The Verdi and Cockpit Association initiated the election of a works council at the Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air in Germany last Thursday. First, a so-called electoral board is formed.

Ryanair has not stationed any aircraft in Germany for a long time. All bases and aircraft were handed over to its sister company Malta Air. At that time, the step was justified by the fact that this was intended to enable employees to pay wage taxes in the Federal Republic. Ireland had previously insisted that these would be due at the company's location, i.e. Dublin at the time.

Ryanair now also has flight operations in the United Kingdom (Ryanair UK), Poland (Buzz) and Malta (Lauda Europe and Malta Air). Their bases are spread across various European countries. Until recently, there was no works council at Malta Air in Germany. Some time ago the unions made an attempt to establish one, but this was not initially successful for various reasons.

Now the Cockpit association and Verdi are making a joint attempt. According to the announcement, the works council election began with the posting of a notice calling for the formation of an electoral committee. The corresponding media release states: “The legal basis for flying personnel here is Section 117 of the Works Constitution Act. The Cockpit Association and Verdi assume that the works council elections can be held without disruption and without hindrances.”