Ryanair is reportedly to give its staff a 3% pay rise just months after warning that salaries could be frozen.
As reported, boss Michael O’Leary warned in January that, in order to make savings, there could be a pay freeze for the carrier’s 2,300 workers.
However, the Daily Telegraph reports that O’Leary yesterday said: “Even in difficult times it remains our first priority to reward our staff first, with better pay and conditions than our competitors.” The carrier reportedly said that the pay increase was “not a sign of better times ahead”.
Analysts saw the announcement in a different light, however, with one telling the Telegraph that it showed O’Leary currently had a “weak negotiating hand”.
Mike Powell, of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, reportedly said: “It does show that he can’t have it all his own way. Ryanair can’t drop another clanger and have industrial unrest, so it’s got to pay up with an inflation-matching increase.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
