The European sky darkens with the multiplication of calls for strikes in the air sector

by time news

Since February, with the lifting of post-Covid restrictions, air traffic has increased sharply. According to forecasts, global air traffic could return to between 69% and 74% of its pre-crisis level this year.

At the same time, calls for strikes in airlines or airports are causing uncertainty about holiday departures this summer.

At airports, staff shortages are causing mass cancellations and lengthening queues. At Paris Charles de Gaulle, employees are called upon to stop work from July 1 with wage demands. Earlier this week, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) warned in an open letter that “the chaos facing the airline industry will only get worse throughout the summer as workers are pushed to end “.

At the same time, airlines that are struggling to recruit find themselves forced, when the demand is there, to cancel scheduled flights or to deal with existing staff. At the risk of provoking the anger of employees who denounce a deterioration in working conditions.

Thus at Ryanair, the unions of five countries called the employees of the company to the strike next weekend. In Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, the hostesses and stewards (PNC) are demanding respect for labor law and wage increases as the Irish company prepares for a flourishing summer with activity greater than that of 2019. In France, “the company does not respect the rest times as provided for by the civil aviation code”, indicated the representative of the National Union of Commercial Flight Crew (SNPNC) Damien Mourgues. His union is also asking for a salary increase for employees who are “paid at minimum wage”.

However, the company assured on Tuesday that it did not expect “major disruptions”. “These strikes by minority unions are not supported by our crews”, indicated the management of Ryanair, adding: “We have been negotiating for a few months an improvement in the collective agreements, which concern 90% of employees in Europe” and “these negotiations are going well”.

The anger also affects the British low-cost EasyJet since the Union Syndicale Ouvrier (USO) is planning a nine-day strike in July at the airports of Barcelona, ​​Malaga and Mallorca in the Balearic Islands. This movement will result in walkouts from Friday to Sunday for three of the four weekends in July, the USO said.

It should also be noted that the staff of the national company Brussels Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, are also called to strike from Thursday and for three days.

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