Dutch Ryanair pilots to strike on Friday

Ryanair pilots in the Netherlands plan to strike for 24 hours on Friday, pilot union VNV announced. Ryanair filed summary proceedings to prevent the strike. The case will appear in the court in Haarlem on Thursday afternoon, NU.nl reports.

"Today Ryanair attacked workers' right to strike in the Netherlands. We have an reaction for them: the Dutch Ryanair pilots will strike for 24 hours on 10 August 2018!", VNV said on Twitter on Wednesday. According to the union, they've been negotiating with Ryanair on a collective bargaining agreement for eight months and no significant progress was made.

With this strike, the Dutch pilots are joining colleagues in Germany, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden, who already announced that they will be striking on Friday. VNV received official approval from its members for the strike.

VNV said that they were surprised that Ryanair is turning to court in the Netherlands, but did not take this step in the other European countries. VNV "is furious because of the Ryanair attack on the Dutch right to strike, which is a fundamental right of employees in the Netherlands", the union said. "With this summons, Ryanair once again tries to deprive its employees' rights."

Ryanair was not available for comment on Wednesday, according to the newspaper.