English could again be hit by extensive strikes. – Management tries out union busting, races Halvor Vatnar in its pilot union.
It is the pilot employees of airlines going through mediation Thursday and Friday.
If the parties agree, affected airlines again extensive and probably prolonged strike from Saturday morning.
– Increased cost overnight
Usually ends mediation solution, but this mediation is about principles – and according pilots ; if they survive in English.
– Our experience over the past four years is that English-Bjørn Kjos want to get rid us and that he is running a strategy of union busting. He does not want permanent employees pilots, but hired pilots obscene terms. We shall Tynes and our collective agreement demolished, says Vatnar.
– How do you know that he do it?
BOSS: Bjørn Kjos.
Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen , VG
– He has transferred the Scandinavian pilots from parent company Norwegian Air Shuffle (NAS) to a staffing company, Norwegian Air Norway (NAN). The planes were placed in another company and NAN must lease them back. Just after NAN was put into operation, went leasing rates to NAN sharply.
– You mean it is deliberately to remove you?
– Yes, the cost føyk weather overnight. Through such internal invoicing were staffing company suddenly unprofitable. In a negotiation meeting on Thursday February 4th, we were told that NAN would be insolvent in February if they did not get fresh funds, and that pilot approvals therefore would not be approved. It really reminds «unionbusting” as we have seen in other countries, says Vatnar, which is one of the most experienced pilots in English.
He has been with the company since 1995.
– Server, do not lose money
– How can they prepare as if we lose money in Scandinavia. In reality this is where we earn money, but it did not arrive. It is now being argued internally that we are significantly more expensive than our foreign colleagues on løsarbeiderkontrakter – and that difference will only increase in the future. With such a backdrop, we believe there is reason to say that strike threat is imminent.
Pilot Association claims is a collective agreement with real employer, ie NAS.
– There are not more than two years ago Kjos said that not only Scandinavian pilots will fly routes from bases outside Scandinavia. We are experiencing increasingly that they operate from Torp and Norwegian bases, not with Norwegian tariff wages, but foreign. We will not find ourselves in that 700 Scandinavian pilots, who Kjos said was absolutely central, shall be cast out in the way that he now tries to.
English now fighting a grueling battle to few Irish-based license in the US.
Will provide on pension
He has a small carrot with them into mediation:
– In mediation in 2013 would Kjos cut in pensions. He did not arrive and we got support in the Labour Court. But in this year’s brokerage we have added pension pot.
– Does it mean that you can help to move from defined benefit to defined contribution pension?
– We are willing to discuss it, but there are differences; you have five years left to retirement is not equally applicable, but it is easier in a 30-year perspective.
– But both pensions and wages are more expensive than they hired pilots get?
– There is another difference. Beginner salary for a pilot is 380 000 and the top salary is 1.1 million, before diet, he says and adds:
– We are prepared as highly paid and whiny. But it not written that we work three out of four weekends a month, are up at dawn and often work 13 to 14 hour days.
– With principles on the table, a strike could be prolonged?
– Yes, that is correct, but we can say difficult or say anything about. But a strike is easy to get into and hard to get out of.
– Will you start with a low strike withdrawals start?
– The are not uncommon, but we have not yet determined level.
Attacker Norwegian politicians
He says Norwegian politicians have the wrong focus.
– The main argument which almost not present in Norway, is that hiring provides increased safety risk.
– How do you prove it?
– It had three accidents in USA, before they tightened. Let’s hope we do the same here in Europe. What we see is that hired not dare report the same way as permanent employees, for fear of losing their job. We see that the leading politicians in the EU has grasped the big challenge. When we were in Parliament recently and presented this overall picture, the only question we got, what this would mean for fares.
English: Measure about consensus
HOPING FOR CONSENSUS: Director Lasse Sandakerveien-Nielsen in Norwegian Air Shuttle .
Photo: Jorgen Braastad , VG
Information Manager Lasse Sandakerveien-Nielsen in English wanted to respond VG mail Monday afternoon.
– Norwegian has just completed a miserable 2014 with 1.6 billion in deficit . In light of this, there is no doubt that we must adapt to survive in the future and have an airline based in Norway. The pilots in Scandinavia have very good conditions and costs must be reduced so we have seen with our competitors. The Norwegian management requests are adjustments in working hours, flexibility, insurance and pensions, he writes, adding:
– We are in a tough competitive environment, where it happens restructuring around us in most airlines, also in Scandinavia. In SAS pilots and management jointly agreed new deals to save the company and by example Lufthansa, moved more and more flights to low cost with other agreements. Norwegian management and the pilots have for several months been sitting together in different working groups to work together to find out how we can strengthen us for the future. This work was unfortunately not the goal, and resulted thus in stoppage. It seems we are sorry, but go into mediation with the aim to agree, as we have always been in the past.
– Scaring strike consequences
– We seem it is a pity that Vatnar already before mediation scares strike consequences that obviously affects third parties. We go into mediation with a positive attitude and the desire to agree, so our passengers are not affected and all colleagues both on the ground and in the air have a safe job to go to the future, writes Sandakerveien-Nielsen.
He denies the allegations that they will get rid of permanent employees Norwegian pilots:
– On the contrary: Norwegian want to retain experienced and competent pilots in Scandinavia. If you are employed by Oslo-base and starting your work period there, you get naturally Norwegian wages and you are employed by London base and start working your period there, you get naturally British salary. It could not be that Norwegian, pilot conditions to be exported to bases in other countries.
According to the CIO was the move to NAN part of an ordinary undertaking. In light of Norwegian’s international growth, it was created a new corporate structure in which pilot -and cabin operations were put into separate subsidiary of Norwegian family with their respective collective agreements.
– What this is about is the need for restructuring in Scandinavia. To be competitive going forward we must make adjustments among other working time and flexibility. When pilots even want a working key where they work five days and have ensuing four days off, so can anyone working hours are long. If you had changed on this work the key, it would also have been fewer long days. And that is not to come ignore that pilots in Scandinavia is the labor group in the company with the highest wages and best terms. Today they are only pilots in Scandinavia that has defined benefit, all we have defined contribution pensions to most other Norwegian workers in the private sector also have.
– There is no evidence to conclude that hired pilots report less often than permanent employees. This card has both unions and left political played long.
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