MEMBERS OF FÓRSA trade union have written to management at Emerald Airlines to seek a meeting early next week in an attempt to resolve a dispute with pilots who are set to strike over the bank holiday weekend. 

It comes after the airline confirmed it had invited the union for talks to prevent the strike from going ahead.

Emerald Airlines operates regional flights, including the Dublin to Donegal service on behalf of Aer Lingus and UK regional routes trading as Aer Lingus Regional. 

The pilots who served the notice of industrial action are members of the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (IALPA), which is a branch of the trade union Fórsa.

Fórsa issued notice of the stoppage on Thursday morning, to begin from midnight on Thursday 3 August, ending midnight on Friday 4 August.

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for Emerald Airlines confirmed that it contacted the union yesterday in order to prevent the strike from going ahead. 

“We can confirm that we have invited Fórsa Trade Union into discussion to explore how their members can be best represented in our airline,” the statement read.

“We have addressed Fórsa’s concerns and have now removed their requirement to undertake this unnecessary disruptive strike action. We therefore expect our operations to be unaffected by this dispute.”

Responding to the correspondence Fórsa national secretary Katie Morgan said the union is committed to meaningful engagement with the airline.

She said the union remains committed to negotiating “a proper collective labour agreement” on behalf of its pilot members and welcomed Emerald’s willingness to meet on the matter.

Fórsa has proposed that the meeting take place at 10am on Monday, 31 July, and that the union would agree to a temporary suspension of industrial action “to allow for meaningful engagement.”

A spokesperson for Fórsa told The Journal that it is awaiting correspondence from Emerald Airlines on the matter.