DUBLIN, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair on Monday offered to meet the representatives of its pilots and their affiliated trade union at a neutral venue as a compromise to avoid an imminent strike threatened by them on Thursday.
The offer was made in a letter sent by Ryanair's Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson to Angela Kirk, Natonal Secretary of Forsa, a parent trade union of Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) with which some of Ryanair's pilots who have threatened to strike are members.
"Since you make an issue out of a 'neutral venue', we will now remove this block, and offer you the neutral venue of the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport, where we will be happy to meet at 10 am on Tuesday, or Wednesday to commence negotiations...," said Eddie Wilson in the letter which was published on Ryanair's Twitter account.
Local media quoted a spokesman of Forsa, the largest trade union in the Irish public service sector, as saying that they had responded to Ryanair's letter by suggesting a different venue for the proposed meeting.
It is not known whether Ryanair has accepted Forsa's proposal or not.
Forsa had refused the call issued by Ryanair to meet at its headquarters near Dublin Airport and call off the strike threatened by some 100 Ryanair's Ireland-based pilots after they met at a trade union meeting on last Tuesday.
Forsa had accused Ryanair management of lacking sincerity in talks with the pilots it represents by even refusing to meet them at a neutral venue which Forsa would pay for.
Earlier last week, Ryanair's Ireland-based pilots voted overwhelmingly to launch a 24-hour strike on July 12 as the airline is too slow in meeting their demands for improved working conditions and seniority issues.
Ryanair said it had forwarded its proposals regarding the issues raised by its pilots to their parent trade union Forsa and requested Forsa for talks on these issues on a number of occasions. However, Forsa had failed to respond to its requests, it said.
Ryanair said that it will inform the customers likely to be affected by the planned strike through email and text messages by Tuesday, indicating that the airline is prepared for the worst scenario if no talks or agreements before Thursday.
In Monday's letter to Forsa, Ryanair said that the pilots who have threatened to strike only account for 27 percent of its pilots based in Ireland.
Even more pilots will join the strike the airline may handle it by flying in pilots from other parts of Europe despite the definite disruptions the strike will deliver to its flight schedules, said local media reports.
