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Ryanair strikes back at Copenhagen's mayor

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Ryanair strikes back at Copenhagen's mayor

On the same day the Danish Labour Court set a date for a final decision on whether Ryanair needs to follow Danish labour laws, the airline sent out a tweet mocking the "High Fare Mayor".

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What Ryanair might lack in Photoshop skills, they more than make up for in aggressive marketing. 
 
The Irish airline has gone all out in its conflict with Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen, dubbing him the ‘High Fare Mayor’ and comparing him to Marie Antoinette. 
 
In a tweet sent out on Wednesday, Ryanair hyped its “low fares that Mayor Frank Jensen doesn’t want you to buy” by superimposing Jensen’s face on Antoinette’s and having him say “Let them eat cake!” and “Let them pay high fares!”
Early on Thursday, the airline followed it up with another poorly Photoshopped tweet declaring "now we will be Frank" and listing the reasons "more and more smart Danes are booking Ryanair":
The tweets come in response to Jensen’s announcement on Sunday that he will not allow municipal employees to fly with Ryanair on official business, even if the airline offers the lowest available fare. 
 
 
“The City of Copenhagen does not accept social dumping. Therefore we don’t use firms like Ryanair or others that don’t offer their employees proper salaries and working conditions,” the mayor wrote on Facebook. 
 
“Our rules mean that we cannot enter contracts or buy goods from suppliers that do not pay proper salaries,” Jensen told Berlingske. 
 
Ryanair spokesman Ronan O’Keeffe said that Jensen’s decision gives preferential treatment to SAS, the Scandinavian airline partly owned by the Danish state. O’Keeffe added that Jensen is misinformed about Ryanair’s working conditions. 
 
“We are surprised by Mayor Jensen’s imprecise comments which don’t take into consideration the fact that Ryanair’s pilots and cabin personnel have high salaries, job security and already have a collective agreement with Ryanair,” he told Berlingske. 
 
The municipalities of Albertslund, Ballerup, Brøndby, Hvidovre, Ishøj, Ringsted, Roskilde and Tårnby have also declared that employees can only fly with airlines that have Danish collective bargaining agreements. 
 
On Wednesday, the Danish Labour Court (Arbejdsretten) set a date of June 15th for a final decision on whether Danish labour unions can carry out a legal strike against Ryanair at Copenhagen Airport. 
 
If the court determines that Ryanair is subject to Danish labour laws, it clears the way for a legal strike. If however the court rules that the airline should play by Irish rules, a strike would be illegal. 
 

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