2023-08-13 22:19:00
In the middle of the summer holidays, a new pilot strike is impacting the activities of the low-cost airline Ryanair in Belgium, starting Monday August 14 for two days. This is the third pilot strike of the summer, with 88 canceled flights, out of around 340 from or to Belgium, affecting 15,000 to 20,000 passengers. The pilots complain regarding the social context within the Irish company and the non-compliance with Belgian legislation.
Published on: 08/14/2023 – 00:19
2 mn
With our correspondent in Brussels, Jean-Jacques Hery
At the center of the discontent is a disagreement over pay that dates back to 2020. Ryanair, faced with the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, is cutting pay: -50% for management, -10% for cabin crew and -20% for pilots. In Belgium, everything is governed by a collective agreement.
But the resumption of activity is going faster than expected. From 2022, the management regains its initial salary. Same thing for cabin crew in the summer of 2022, but for the pilots, no agreement has been reached. From there, the discussions go round in circles : regarding forty of them even go to court to try to recover what they consider to be salary arrears.
And then, last June, when the Irish company announced a new work schedule, applicable from next October, more restrictive and with fewer rest days, the pilots’ unions got angry and that was the start of these summer strikes.
Now it’s a dead end. On the one hand, the unions are appealing to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the Walloon authorities. On the other hand, Ryanair sticks to its positions, on the strength of its good results, and minimizes the impact of the social conflict on its activity.
In view of the situation, the unions have already announced that new strikes are to be expected at Charleroi airport, where Ryanair’s Belgian fleet is located.
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