SN pilots on strike: 30 april 2009 [called off]

[airbuske]

Yes indeed, I received internal mail, no strike
Better no strike !

[Atlantis]

A very wise decision!!!! These are hard times for everybody and everybody has to work harder or will be paid less. It goes bad almost a year and we are now in a recession and the worst has to come yet.

Think twice and apparently they did.

[tolipanebas]

A very wise decision!!!! These are hard times for everybody and everybody has to work harder or will be paid less. It goes bad almost a year and we are now in a recession and the worst has to come yet. Think twice and apparently they did.

Well, I don't know the plans our management has with the other categories of staff at SN, but after tonight, it should be very clear to all that we're definitely NOT going to be paid less to work more...

Yesterday evening, after the official announcement by the pilot unions of a general strike the next morning, management indeed thought twice and understood that they had seriously overplayed their hands by imposing unilateral measures like wake-blockages, reduced resttimes and involuntary early retirements, so they asked for an urgent 'consiliation meeting' at the labour ministery under the chairmanship of a neutral social mediator. The unions obviously were very pleased with the sudden will from our management to talk to us and so they happily accepted the last-minute invitation, with the clear message that NO negotiations whatsoever about any of these 3 issues at stake would take place, as each one of them is already firmly governed by Collective Labour Agreements which SN unilaterally decided to breach earlier this week...

At the meeting, SN quickly understood the unions were indeed serious about the strike: either the company gave in completely to our demands, or it would risk an outright and prolongued strike (of multiple days even), so the management had no choice but to accept and sign what are in fact quite humiliating conditions:

-) they signed a document formally stating they will once again respect in full all previously signed Collective Labour Agreements for flight crew which they had unilaterally breached, so in fact the company formally accepts to have been in a wanted state of violation of the law!

-) The idea of wage-blockages for pilots is revoked with immediate effect and anybody flying who had seen his/her wage beeing topped of this month already in a unilateral move by the management, will get compensated for this in full next month.

-) no involuntary early retirements of pilots are going to take place; the management will study other methods as proposed by the pilot unions.

-) no modifications to our rest time after flight will take effect without formal agreement of the unions.

-) The text of the consiliation meeting needs to be distributed amongst staff through internal mail for it to be perfectly clear who was wrong and who had it right.

With a company giving in on all issues, the pilot unions had no problem in showing they are very consious social partners and so the strike was called off by the unions at the very last minute, around 22PM....

It shows that at SN the only negotiation tactics used by our management are those of direct confrontation, and the only language understood by them must be spoken in very treathening words...
But as soon as they sense resolved opposition, they immediately backtrack...
Maybe the other categories of staff have learned something from it, because we pilots have just managed to get themselves off the hook, but management still want to find 10M euro of savings on labour costs, so with us out of reach for now, others will likely be the next target in line...

[Airbuspilot]

I would not be too sure of your victory yet!

Maybe you have won this battle, this does not mean you have won the war. Management is looking for 10M of savings and they WILL find it, no matter what happens. And to believe that the pilots are now off the hook and that the savings will be carried by all other groups of employees would be very VERY naive indeed!

Once more, what happened here is a proven management technique to see how far exactly one can go as management (happened in 2001 as well, remember). Next time they will approach you more carefully, in a well thought over way! They will play the media and the other groups of employees before so the pilot group will be standing alone!

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF (8 year cyclic)

So be vigilant and prepared. It is NOT over yet.

[tolipanebas]

I would not be too sure of your victory yet! Be vigilant and prepared. It is NOT over yet.

Oh I know that all too good, that's why I've said we're 'out of reach for now'...

What will happen now is that management will leave us alone while they 'talk' to the other categories who likely will not fight as hard as we do, only to come back to us telling how we are the only ones not doing at least some sort of a contribution, even though smaller than what they had hoped for at first...

But still, it is important to notice that this was the first time since long SN pilots stood up together (no longer the ex-VEX vs the ex-DAT group) and as such we managed to send them packing in just a few hours.
A tactic to use again in future for sure, because there really is no good to be expected from anything else but sticking together! If you're in the same boat, you better all row in the same direction...

[Air Key West]

Well done, pilots ! You did not ask for anything, except that management comply with their (legal) commitments and obligations. If they want to save on personnel costs, why doesn't management start with themselves ? Is it necessary to have two CEOs on the pay list ? And in addition, they are incompetent, amateur and arrogant. They don't listen to anybody, neither their staff nor their pax. They know it best and this is why planes in Europe fly more or less half full (or empty). Instead of spending their time and energy on reducing costs, why cannot they concentrate on finding strategies to get moe pax on board = more revenue = less need to make savings. The fact that management wanted (or wants) to wet lease flights to a charter airline is a sign management still concentrate on tourists, backpackers and families and have a low cost airline mentality. Cannot they try to lure away business travelers = high revenue pax from other airlines ? Have we ever seen any ads to attracct business travelers ? I can only see many many ads for cheap flights to Spain and Italy. No interest in business pax. No interest in developping the BRU hub with good connections throughout the day.
Let's hope LH is allowed to take over and let's hope LH puts some competent managers at the head of the company. Patience staff, patience passengers....

[tolipanebas]

If they want to save on personnel costs, why doesn't management start with themselves ? Is it necessary to have two CEOs on the pay list ?

That's another good question which has been asked several times by the unions on the workers council and to which no answer was ever given; as we all know already (Air DC); some things may not be put into question at SN it seems....

And there are many other fields where a lot of money could be saved, even if their scale is purely symbolic.
Why does a certain VP need to have an expensive and luxurious company car, if he doen't even have a driving licence to drive it? So his boyfriend can drive to his work (at another company, BTW) with it???

There is still enough low hanging fruit at the managerial level to pluck first, before turning to us!

[Vinnie-Winnie]

Can anyone tell me the difference in total wage cost between as US regional jet pilot flying for a company such as mesaba and a european airline such as SN?

I reckon that SN's operating cost structure is way too high... Call management what you like they're only trying to make the company more more efficient. Don't see why SN should be the only company not adapting to lower demand & lower yields by cutting costs just to please powerful unions.

[tolipanebas]

Can anyone tell me the difference in total wage cost between as US regional jet pilot flying for a company such as mesaba and a european airline such as SN?

When you want to benchmark salaries, don't look for a company on the other side of the globe in a country with a completely different fiscal and social system, use a company from nearby, working under pretty much the same fiscal and social rules... Why not take LH itself?
Mind you, we've done the study and SN came out as operating for cheap, and by far!

I reckon that SN's operating cost structure is way too high...

If it is, it is mainly because the admittedly HUGE overhead structure is not adapted to the pretty small size of the airline... The fact we have 2 CEO's is a very symbolic example of this inefficiency.

On the other hand, SN is operating all of its flights with minimum cabin crew (2 cabin crew on the RJ, 3 on the A319 and 733, 4 on the 744 and 8 on the A333) and is doing all of its long flights with only 2 cockpit crew members, a method which required SN to apply for exceptional wavers from the Civil Aviation Administration since the total work times on many of the triangular long haul routes (as well as on the night return flight to TLV) are actually way too long do be flown without 3rd safety pilot, whereas other airlines (LH amongst others) constantly have augmented crews for this type of operations...

As such, if the operating cost of the airline is indeed too high, it won't be the flight department which is causing it, but rather the HUGE overhead structure which needs to be paid for back at the head office.

[Stij]

On the other hand, SN is operating all of its flights with minimum cabin crew (2 cabin crew on the RJ, 3 on the A319 and 733, 4 on the 744 and 8 on the A333)

I didn't know you operated 744?!?!? Congratulations!!! But 4 cabin attendants can't be enough for safety!!!! You must complain to management!

Stij

[cathay belgium]

Oh Stij,

Don't tease him ! Everybody knows he meant a 734 , or did I missed something,...

oh yes! Finally !

Did the 744 of LH already arrives today?? Lucky us !
Off course ,this was so soon that SN didn't have enough time or crews to full the 744,so
I think these four crewmembers only be for the first flight!

Greetings CX-B

[airbuske]

I'm really glad that there was no strike today.
It was really busy today , a lot of flights were overbooked.
A strike would be a (financial) disaster.