PHOTOCALL Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary claims the pilots' union Wed site is being used to intimidate some of its members.

Last Wednesday, Ryanair announced it had initiated proceedings that could lead to a Dublin High Court fight with the Irish Airline Pilots' Association. The airline takes issue with a Web site that was set up by the Irish union and its British counterpart. The Web site, www.repaweb.org, came into existence last October. One of its main objectives is to provide a forum -- and a united voice -- for Ryanair pilots in both countries in their dealings with their bosses.

Ryanair claims that the Web site's discussion boards are little more than a platform for attacks on pilots who are considering flying the airline's new fleet of Boeing 737-800 planes. The Boeing planes will be used on routes out of Dublin, commencing later this year.

In a statement released as its high court action began, Ryanair said: "In addition to threatening and intimidating Ryanair pilots, this website has also published specific threats which have been the source of a formal complaint to the Garda Siochana."

Repaweb.org requires users to register and is open only to bona fide Ryanair pilots. IALPA's president, Capt. Evan Cullen, has been getting into a heated war of words with Ryanair's exuberant chief executive, Michael O'Leary, over the allegations.

Cullen rejected the airline's accusations about the Web site, according to a recent report in the Irish Times. "IALPA deprecates any form of intimidation, victimization or harassment in aviation, which is a safety-critical industry," he said.

Cullen insisted that IALPA would be happy to see an independent investigation into accusations of harassment, but "regrettably Ryanair has refused several opportunities for this to happen."

O'Leary had previously harangued Cullen in a letter which stated, "we live in the 21st century, and there is no place in this democracy for old-school union intimidation and victimization."

The row took another turn on Friday when it emerged that Ryanair had threatened to withhold a three percent pay rise and to freeze the stock options of some pilots. The pay rise had been promised in April.

Ryanair's pilots currently earn anything from €50,000 ($66,200) to €130, 000 ($172,100), so the three percent increase would be worth €1,500 ($1,986) to those at the bottom of the scale and €3,900 ($5,165) to those at the top.

Ryanair claims that intimidation by IALPA is discouraging pilots from signing up to fly the new planes, whereas the pilots' supporters say the issue is a €15,000 ($19,860) bond. The bond is intended to discourage pilots from getting their training through Ryanair, then leaving to join another airline.

The contract states that pilots do not have to put up any money of their own to begin training - as they do with some other airlines -- but that if they leave Ryanair within five years they must pay €15,000 ($19,860) to enable the airline to recoup its training costs.

The money will also be due for repayment, a Ryanair spokesperson told the Irish Independent, if "mandatory union recognition is imposed on Ryanair within five years."

The dispute took a further twist on Monday when Ryanair secured leave from the Dublin high court to challenge a ruling from Ireland's Labor Court that there is a trade dispute between Ryanair and IALPA.

IALPA is part of a bigger Irish union, IMPACT. Ryanair claims that IMPACT has no right to "intermeddle" in its business. The Labor Court had decided in late January that there was a trade dispute between the airline and the union. Ryanair argues that while any of its employees are free to join a union, it is not obliged to recognize the union's right to negotiate on its members' behalf.