Swissport industrial action at Brussels Airport

[cnc]

we work at the airport too you know so we do know what is going on... and underpayed and exploited? wow if you call a netto salary of 1600 to 2000 a month underpayed i wonder how many 1000's you earn. Do you even know what exploited means?

Those people don't earn 1600-2000 net.
They earn around 1200-1400 net, plus tax credit for supporting a family.
Take your rent of 600 euro for a basic and shitty appartment in Schaarbeek out of that and you know what these people are left with.

I worked at Zaventem and I saw how these people are ov,erworked but still try to show up to the aircraft as soon as they arrive. I've never seen them take 10 coffee breaks.

seriously you will tell me i don't know? you who never even worked at sabena, bgs, flightcare or swissport?
a normal loader is a class 3 blue and has around 12.2 euro/hour
sunday's are at 200% up to 250% depending on how much sunday's you do per month
holiday's at 200%
they have more per hour at night (20%) and pre-night (5%)
saturday 10% extra between 07 and 20h
split shift 20 euro extra per day
3th shift or supplement is at 300%
maaltijdchecks 7euro
etc.
wow you are right they are so underpayed!

[Zorba]

According to VRT Journaal the unions and Swissport have an agreement. The unions advise the employees to resume work.

[BRU]

we work at the airport too you know so we do know what is going on... and underpayed and exploited? wow if you call a netto salary of 1600 to 2000 a month underpayed i wonder how many 1000's you earn. Do you even know what exploited means?

Those people don't earn 1600-2000 net.
They earn around 1200-1400 net, plus tax credit for supporting a family.
Take your rent of 600 euro for a basic and shitty appartment in Schaarbeek out of that and you know what these people are left with.

I worked at Zaventem and I saw how these people are ov,erworked but still try to show up to the aircraft as soon as they arrive. I've never seen them take 10 coffee breaks.

seriously you will tell me i don't know? you who never even worked at sabena, bgs, flightcare or swissport?
a normal loader is a class 3 blue and has around 12.2 euro/hour
sunday's are at 200% up to 250% depending on how much sunday's you do per month
holiday's at 200%
they have more per hour at night (20%) and pre-night (5%)
saturday 10% extra between 07 and 20h
split shift 20 euro extra per day
3th shift or supplement is at 300%
maaltijdchecks 7euro
etc.
wow you are right they are so underpayed!

cnc is correct. These people, especially if they work with some flexibility, do earn a good salery and 2000 eoru net is not an exception. Have done enough planning myself: they also have plenty coffee breaks. Think that most of them would not like to switch with ford, volvo or audi factories.

[b.lufthansa]

Very interesting article (in Dutch): http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2 ... luchthaven

[BRU]

Very interesting article (in Dutch): http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2 ... luchthaven

Do not even find it interesting at all. Very much one point of view and full of mistake. For me this is typical union propaganda. Unions do want to stick in the past. Once again. World is changing, and if they would see that, they could defend the needs in line with reality. And that would creat wealth and jobs again benefiting employees. And governement in Belgium should finally start supporting aviation in Belgium by recognizing the economical value of the airport and giving the airport a good and stable legal framework and room to grow.

[Passenger]

Very interesting article (in Dutch): http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2 ... luchthaven

Do not even find it interesting at all. Very much one point of view and full of mistake. For me this is typical union propaganda. Unions do want to stick in the past. Once again. World is changing, and if they would see that, they could defend the needs in line with reality. And that would creat wealth and jobs again benefiting employees. And governement in Belgium should finally start supporting aviation in Belgium by recognizing the economical value of the airport and giving the airport a good and stable legal framework and room to grow.

Agree ! It's the usual leftwing blablabla that we hear for days now from the unions. Example: they talk about the horror of the split service, but they do not mention that workers get paid extra for it (20 Euro gross per day, see above). They don't mention that there are 2 extreme peaks in aviation. And they don't mention that it's also common in restaurants (i.e. 11h-14h and 18h-23h).

So "very interesting" is actually "disinformation": to withhold known information to damage one party (the employer).

[misterscavi2ooo]

I'm a red cup of Swissport in Barcelona. It's possible to have some contact of somebody of Swissport in Brussels???

[RTM]

Agree ! It's the usual leftwing blablabla that we hear for days now from the unions. Example: they talk about the horror of the split service, but they do not mention that workers get paid extra for it (20 Euro gross per day, see above). They don't mention that there are 2 extreme peaks in aviation. And they don't mention that it's also common in restaurants (i.e. 11h-14h and 18h-23h).

So "very interesting" is actually "disinformation": to withhold known information to damage one party (the employer).

Well, if you think it is acceptable to completely ruin someones social life for €20 gross a day, then please try it. And the restaurant comparison is a bit unfair as well. Waiters do not move hundreds of kilo's in an hour, and on top of that, waiters are often tipped by the customers. So their motivation to CHOSE these shifts, is quite different.

[cnc]

Well, if you think it is acceptable to completely ruin someones social life for €20 gross a day, then please try it. And the restaurant comparison is a bit unfair as well. Waiters do not move hundreds of kilo's in an hour, and on top of that, waiters are often tipped by the customers. So their motivation to CHOSE these shifts, is quite different.

omg you poor poor thing... i had on average 3 split shifts a week at flightcare so according to you my social life was unexisting. waiters btw do not nearly earn as much as loaders without those tips

[RTM]

Don't patrenize people defending their rights.
And no, I am not one of them. But since it is all right wing thinking people here judging them, and putting them down, someone has to stick up for them.
You want a medal, promoting split shifts? Who do you think you are kidding trying to sell the no private life impact? It's just BS.
It is not that you were able to make it work for you, that that goes for everyone. I am gonna stop here, but I think you get the picture.

[AirOpinion]

omg you poor poor thing... i had on average 3 split shifts a week at flightcare so according to you my social life was unexisting. waiters btw do not nearly earn as much as loaders without those tips

Hahaaaa... Keep on going
If there's one group of people that is being overpaid in aviation it's not the handling but flying personel
Since they are more or less waiters in the sky they should only earn 1400 net... But oh yeah the other 800 Eur is there for the safety part of the job... Forgot about that

[Passenger]

Don't patrenize people defending their rights.

The rights of the strikers came in clear conflict with the right of then thousands of ordinary people (aka passengers). They have the right to travel. The right to get access to their own belongings. The right to get what they've paid for.

This not about left wing or right wing: this is about basic respect towards other people.

Who do you think you are kidding trying to sell the no private life impact? It's just BS.

If one really wants a 9 to 5 job with plenty of time for one's private life, an airport is not the place to be.

[AirOpinion]

Btw: today i saw the swissport management offloading an a320... There were six of them!
Very remarkable... I Forgot to take a picture

[cnc]

If there's one group of people that is being overpaid in aviation it's not the handling but flying personel
Since they are more or less waiters in the sky they should only earn 1400 net... But oh yeah the other 800 Eur is there for the safety part of the job... Forgot about that

you think most FA's earn 2200 a month? they would love to have you as employer then

Btw: today i saw the swissport management offloading an a320... There were six of them!
Very remarkable... I Forgot to take a picture

what do you expect, most of them don't even know how to drive a belt loader. i don't know why you want that as a reference but take a look on an average day and you'll see 2 teams loading an aircraft also.

[RTM]

The rights of the strikers came in clear conflict with the right of then thousands of ordinary people (aka passengers). They have the right to travel. The right to get access to their own belongings. The right to get what they've paid for..

True, but is that ultimately the responsibility of the workers? Or of thair anageent, who saw the conflict coming from miles away, but did nothing to avoid it. Yet all they had to do was comply with earlier agreements.

This not about left wing or right wing: this is about basic respect towards other people..

I know, but everybody seemed to agree on the socialist propaganda term, so I want to counter it, and put things back into perspective.

If one really wants a 9 to 5 job with plenty of time for one's private life, an airport is not the place to be.

Really...?
I think that is a load of crap. Everybody, regardless of what they are doing, has the right to a social life. Don't forget that these people probably couldn't care less about aviation. They are not romantic aviation lovers, to them it is just a job they were able to get. And with that they got the right to get respected as well.

If you are looking for aviation lovers to do these jobs, I think there will be a tremendous shortage of staff...

[LJ]

Don't patrenize people defending their rights.

Defending their rights is not a problem. However, it's they way you do it. Wild cat strikes are only acceptable if there is an imminent cause (which there isn't in this dispute).

[Flanker2]

we work at the airport too you know so we do know what is going on... and underpayed and exploited? wow if you call a netto salary of 1600 to 2000 a month underpayed i wonder how many 1000's you earn. Do you even know what exploited means?

Those people don't earn 1600-2000 net.
They earn around 1200-1400 net, plus tax credit for supporting a family.
Take your rent of 600 euro for a basic and shitty appartment in Schaarbeek out of that and you know what these people are left with.

I worked at Zaventem and I saw how these people are ov,erworked but still try to show up to the aircraft as soon as they arrive. I've never seen them take 10 coffee breaks.

seriously you will tell me i don't know? you who never even worked at sabena, bgs, flightcare or swissport?
a normal loader is a class 3 blue and has around 12.2 euro/hour
sunday's are at 200% up to 250% depending on how much sunday's you do per month
holiday's at 200%
they have more per hour at night (20%) and pre-night (5%)
saturday 10% extra between 07 and 20h
split shift 20 euro extra per day
3th shift or supplement is at 300%
maaltijdchecks 7euro
etc.
wow you are right they are so underpayed!

I don't disagree with your numbers, but do the math yourself. It seems that you are forgetting the biggest factor: TAXES!
If +/-1900 euro is the gross salary. To receive a salary of 1500 euro net take-home pay, you need more than 2400 euro's gross. Most of these workers only work one out of 2 weekends, nights ops are almost extinct.
Most don't make more than 2200 euro's, which is a nett salary of 1400 euro's.
7 euro maaltijdcheques, ok, but that often even doesn't cover the diesel for the commute to work.

Technicians at SN are around 1450-1600 nett take-home, are you trying to sell us that loaders are earning as much, if not more?

I stand behind the employees who are on strike on this issue. Wildcat or not doesn't change a thing because even if you know it one week in advance, what can you do about it? Sure it's legal vs. illegal but it will only make the lawyers happy. Airlines would only lose more revenue.

Now it's 4 days into the strike and people are still showing up with their luggage at BRU
Would an announced strike have changed anything if not hit the airlines harder?

As for the pax, I think that it's unfortunate but it's just luggage, no biggy here. Most people flying shorthaul take things they don't need to abuse their 15kg free hold luggage rights anyway...

[b720]

What a load of rubbish!!!

[luchtzak]

According to the 9 o'clock radio news, strike is still ongoing with part of the staff. Union members are trying to convince workers to start working again.

[BRU]

Technicians at SN are around 1450-1600 nett take-home, are you trying to sell us that loaders are earning as much, if not more?

Do not know the salary of technicians, but if it is correct what you say, than yes, loaders have more at the end of the month. Like I said before, it is no exception to have over 2000 € net a month.

Strike is also not about salary, because they know they earn good money. But about flexibility. As in the "union article" yesterday: they start partime, insist on 75% contract and after 2 years full time contract. But if you are loosing customers or aviation business is not growing, and you end up with only full time contracts, what can you do ? Split shifts could be a solution. Or unions should accept that not everybody automatically becomes a full timer after a certain period. Or you can do more interim at some peak time. But you need some flexibility. And that is the problem. It is not about giving in on your social life.

Aviapartner won the contract of Jetairfly, and they hired a bunch of part time people. Often these are people combining it with another part time shift or looking for a part time job. Can you imagine that in 2 years time the unions demand that they become full time ?

Sorry to say so, but at a certain point, reality is there and you have to face it. If you are willing to accept flexibility in the system, you can also give people a good work - life balance.