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Ireland's coastguard chopper pilots plan work to rule

RESCUE pilots in Ireland are set for industrial action tomorrow in a dispute over rosters and an “unsustainable” reliance on overtime, their union has warned.

Members of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) — a branch of the Forsa trade union — working for the Irish Coast Guard voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action last week. 

From midday tomorrow, they will work to rule, engaging in a fixed-pattern rota of six days of work followed by three days off.

The move comes after a meeting with union officials and managers from CHC Helicopter, the Canadian company which runs the 10-year €500 million (£439m) outsourced Irish Coast Guard contract, failed to make progress on the issue of rostering.

Forsa union spokesman Brendan O’Hanlon said the work to rule would continue indefinitely until bosses resolve the issue and comply with their obligations under the pilot services agreement. 

“The service is too reliant on overtime in order to maintain the required level of service, and has survived for a prolonged period on the goodwill and tolerance of the pilots themselves. This is simply unsustainable,” he said.

CHC claimed to have a full complement of 37 pilots and said it would continue to engage in talks with the union.

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