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STRIKES

SAS pilots threaten strike at end of April

Pilots working for the SAS airline across Scandinavia have threatened to strike at the end of April if their requests on working conditions aren't met by the employer.

Published: 3 April 2019 14:48 CEST
SAS pilots threaten strike at end of April
SAS has suffered pilot shortages in recent months. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT
The notification of the possible strike came after unsuccessful negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement, with salary increases the biggest sticking point but other issues relating to working hours and scheduling.

The SAS Pilot group, which represents almost all (95 percent) of the airline's pilots in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, has given notice of a strike if a compromise cannot be reached.

If the strike went ahead, Easter travel would not be affected, but it would begin from midnight on April 26th. 

 
A negotiator for Scandinavia's SAS airline has hit back at what he called the pilots' “unreasonable and extreme demands”.
 
“The pilots have an average salary of 93,000 SEK ($10,000) a month and their demands involve a 15 percent increase,” Torbjörn Granevärn, chief negotiator for the Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises, told the Expressen newspaper, adding that the demands were “so extreme that they threatened job security and the sustainability of the company.”  

The SAS Pilot group has said that their salary requests are in line with the market rate.

 
Granevärn, who is handling the talks for SAS, complained that the leaders of the Swedish Pilot's Union had snubbed negotiations planned for Monday and instead decided to float the prospect of a strike in the media. 
 
“This represents a warning of a strike actions against the background of these extreme demands,” he said. “It's unfortunate as it leads to concern among SAS's customers.” 
 
READ ALSO: 
Wilhelm Tersmeden, who chairs the SAS group at the Swedish Pilot's Union, instead blamed the airline for the break-down in negotiations. 
 
“My understanding is that SAS did not want to continue the talks,” he said. “For me it's pointless to sit with your mouth shut at a negotiating table when one side is just sitting there and saying 'no' to everything.” 
 
The Swedish National Mediation Office has now been called in to bring the two sides together. 
 
Granevärn said he was hopeful that the two sides would be able reach a solution before the planned strike becomes a reality. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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