Brussels Airlines : cabin crew strike looming

[CTBke]

nice plan though .. after this there will be no new fresh company . . .

[Passenger]

It’s quite funny to see how some people regret that there’s no strike today. All for a different reason: because they wanted to see a direct competitor going bust, because it proofs that their theory as shadow CEO fails, because of bad memories from the past, …

So for those saying that there is no agreement signed yet: indeed. But a compromise has been signed between management and union leaders, after mediation of the president of the Joint Committee (PC) Aviation. I called it a pre-agreement yesterday evening, but the word “strike” has such an irresistible power on some that it blocks off even their reading possibilities:

Management and unions have signed a pre-agreement on Thursday evening.

(source : Flemish online newspapers)

[CTBke]

Management and unions have signed a pre-agreement on Thursday evening.

(source : Flemish online newspapers)

and those are really that reliable not knowing the difference between airplanes , carriers, destinations ... just have to wait and see ...

[B.Inventive]

Not to be rude, but if you believe everything they write in newspapers today you are a little naive...

If there won't be a new fresh company so be it, but i believe most employees are no longer willing to sacrifice this much for the continuing decline of standards in belgian aviation. Rather find work abroad than keep on being buchered and bled by our own company to cover for management mistakes....

[Flanker2]

That's true. A vast majority at SN is doing their work beyond expectations. Management is doing a mediocre job, in a way that anyone could have done it. Anyone could have added a JFK flight and a few A333's, made a decision to get rid of Classics in favor of A32S and cut some European routes.
The job of management is to do exceptional things that regular employees at the bottom of the food chain would never have thought of or could have accomplished.

Management has a very broad interpretation. Some will be happy to just be managing the overall business, others will be innovators, creators, explorators.

Sure, I like to be proven right, but the day I will shut up on this forum is when Belgium has a respectable airline that everyone can take pride in.

So, why does the 2000+ personnel force have to continuously spend sweat and tears to cover for the mediocre performance of the top of the pyramid, be it management or shareholders? Maybe it's time for the unions to prove their credibility.

It's easy to read so and so on the media and criticise, but the everyday investment of the staff is not something that you can see on the media.

[b720]

Extremely high taxes, even higher social security contributions, rocketing fuel prices, nil investment, increasingly aggressive competition on EUR routes, and even worse competition on the Africa routes.
How are they to cough up profits? C.C. smiles alone will not do. I still believe that an airline (along with its predecessors) that has never made money in its history should not exist.

[teddybAIR]

According to De Tijd 4 unions rejected proposal for cabin crew. In their press statement, they propose a 24 hour ultimatum to Brussels Airline management to come with alternative proposals concerning working conditions for cabin crew. Lack of appropriate proposals will result in industrial actions as of next week.

Also in French in Trends

[Passenger]

On 5th September, the unions signed a pre-agreement.

On 12th September, the same people not only reject the pre-agreement they've signed a week before, but they also give management a deadline of 24 hours to present a new text. If management fails, the unions call the strike.

Another proof that the Belgian urge to strike is a genetic disorder.

[shockcooling]

Dear passenger, it seems you are aware of what really is going on diring those meetings, therefore I agree with your continuing grudge against strikes...

[SN1203]

@Flanker2, Inquirer

I always find it funny how people continue talking about management mistakes etc. being the reason for the current state of affairs at Brussels Airlines. At the same time - when asking questions like 'what would you change to make things work', there's a lot of silence or people come up with the most irrational ideas.

Look at the ideas on network development you often see here like Rio, Sao Paulo or Flanker2's obsession with Denver: even if such a development sounds like a fantastic idea or even if the management must be blind because they're not jumping on these golden eggs, the sad reality is that you don't need to have a lot of insight in this business to realize that these great ideas simply wouldn't work. If there would be any business case supporting such an expansion, it would have been done a long time ago.

Personally I don't see the big idea to jump to profitability or the huge mistake SN's management is making. The only thing I see is an airline getting in shape to work out a long term cooperation within the Lufthansa Group. One of the many sacrifices at various levels to reach this goal is that the flying staff has to get closer to the standards that unfortunately have been set by the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet or Jetairfly, which might be sad but part of today's reality and not only applicable to flying staff.

As far as I can see, the management was also able to convince the Brussels Airport Company of the added value of a long term Lufthansa Group development at Brussels Airport, with one of the consequences being the plans for the lowcost terminal that were frozen.

Unfortunately the unions seem to have forgotten to look at the context and have started another campaign against the management and company.

[airazurxtror]

On 5th September, the unions signed a pre-agreement.
On 12th September, the same people not only reject the pre-agreement they've signed a week before,

As a rule, the shop stewards negotiate an agreement with the management, then must ask the accord of the union members, usually in a general meeting with a vote;
It can happen that an agreement that seems good to the shop stewards is refused by the union memebers there must then be further négociations. Nothing much unusual in that.

[B.Inventive]

I can't believe people...
They keep on believing there was actually a 'pre agreement', believing only unilaterally supplied information from the management it self.
Management telling the media, thus the world, they achieved an (pre-)agreement is a LIE in itself, and shows very much the way they operate. With absolutely NO respect towards it's employees.
Unions NEVER accepted the proposal itself, they did however have the decent courtesy to allow the entire union body to either accept or refuse the proposal. Which they now announced as being rejected.
UNIONS NEVER AGREED TO ANYTHING IN ANY PRE AGREEMENT!

MEDIA IS NO LONGER WHAT IT USED TO BE! DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING THEY SAY!

[fcw]

One of the many sacrifices at various levels to reach this goal is that the flying staff has to get closer to the standards that unfortunately have been set by the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet or Jetairfly, which might be sad but part of today's reality and not only applicable to flying staff.
Unfortunately the unions seem to have forgotten to look at the context and have started another campaign against the management and company.

1203, aircrew at easyJet and Ryanair take more home every month than the total salary cost of a BruAir crewmember. On top of that BruAir only pays part of his social security contributions as the rest is subsidezed by the Belgian State. BruAir crew is amongst the cheapest you can find in Europe.

You have the cheapest crew in Europe, you are located in the heart of Europe, you didn't pay for your slots, you recieve loads of State money and still, you loose a lot of money year after year whilst management think they are taking the right decisions.
I am afraid there is no much light at the end of the tunnel.

[RoMax]

You have the cheapest crew in Europe

You have no idea what SN pays for its crew (which is something different than what they get in the end).

you are located in the heart of Europe

Which is not an advantage if you are surrounded by the four biggest hubs of Europe, all having very good connections with Belgium.

you didn't pay for your slots

Except for some airports, this is not the big cost. The only advantage of the transition from Sabena to SN was that they have more favourable slots at several airport than what they could have got as a new carrier.

you recieve loads of State money and still

A max of 13 million per year, the same as HQ and JAF (in proportion). And don't even start about the state loan for their start up, peanuts compared to what many many other European carriers receive or received in the last 10-15 years.

I am afraid there is no much light at the end of the tunnel.

Indeed, I still see a lot of darkness in the tunnel of RYR-fans when talking about SN...seriously...

[fcw]

You have the cheapest crew in Europe

You have no idea what SN pays for its crew (which is something different than what they get in the end).

Oh yes I do, I worked for them and I can read a payslip.

[RoMax]

I can read a payslip.

You do?
Do you also realise that the numbers on your payslip, don't show ALL crew costs of an airline (or any company)?

[SN1203]

Fcw - I don't know why you spend valuable time on a message like yours. You know the content is factually wrong and you know what such a message leads to.

[Passenger]

I can't believe people... They keep on believing there was actually a 'pre agreement', believing only unilaterally supplied information from the management it self. Management telling the media, thus the world, they achieved an (pre-)agreement is a LIE in itself, and shows very much the way they operate. With absolutely NO respect towards it's employees. Unions NEVER accepted the proposal itself, they did however have the decent courtesy to allow the entire union body to either accept or refuse the proposal. Which they now announced as being rejected. UNIONS NEVER AGREED TO ANYTHING IN ANY PRE AGREEMENT! MEDIA IS NO LONGER WHAT IT USED TO BE! DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING THEY SAY!

There WAS a pre-agreement on 5th Sept and press reports that evening actually were based upon a press release from the unions, not on a press release from management.

The union leaders clearly have failed today. To cover them up, they today state that management cannot be trusted, that management is an unreliable partner who didn't respect previous agreements, etc. But then: why did they signed an pre-agreement with them on 5th September? Once again: every single news report on 6th September referred to a press statement from the unions, stating that they agreed with the compromise text. I agree that press reports about safety issues usually aren't covered well, but for social disputes the editors do know what they’re talking about.

Example 1 : De Morgen (a socialist newspaper):
“...Volgens de bonden bevat de tekst een tweetal elementen. 'Op korte termijn wordt de werkdruk aangepakt en worden er concrete afspraken gemaakt die de volgende maanden uitgevoerd gaan worden. Op langere termijn wordt een kader geschetst om het werk evenredig te verdelen', zo staat in hun persbericht. De bonden zullen de tekst in de loop van volgende week voorleggen aan de syndicale achterban..."
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/996/Econom ... omis.dhtml

Example 2 : VRT news desk - the Flemish state-television which is surely not an anti-union lobby (actually, the VRT newsdesk joins every national strike the unions organize). They had a first report on 06h36, and then interviewed an union delegate after which they've updated their online info at 12h39:
"...De vakbonden en directie van Brussels Airlines hebben gisteravond onder bemiddeling van de voorzitter van het paritair comité van de luchtvaart een compromistekst bereikt in verband met de werkdruk van het cabinepersoneel. De bonden leggen het document volgende week donderdag voor aan hun achterban. De tekst bevat een tweetal elementen. Op korte termijn wordt de werkdruk aangepakt en worden er concrete afspraken gemaakt die de volgende maanden uitgevoerd gaan worden. Op langere termijn wordt een kader geschetst om het werk evenredig te verdelen. De vakbonden staan achter het compromis. "Het garandeert een verlaging van de werkdruk op korte termijn en een aanpak van de problematiek op langere termijn", luidt het. De bonden dienden vorige week vrijdag een stakingsaanzegging in, die vandaag afloopt. "We gaan morgen geen acties voeren, maar dat wil niet zeggen dat we de stakingsaanzegging afblazen", zei Pol Buekenhout van de christelijke vakbond LBC-NVK gisteravond. "We moeten de compromistekst eerst voorleggen aan de syndicale delegatie vooraleer we daarover beslissingen kunnen nemen..."http://m.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.mob ... /1.1722274

Now, back to the strike. Maybe the unions can organize a meeting "how to read a company balance sheet" for the striking cabin crew next week. I'm sure many of them will then understand that their employer really is in trouble and that the life line from Lufthansa is not endless.

[Flanker2]

fcw wrote:
You have the cheapest crew in Europe

You have no idea what SN pays for its crew (which is something different than what they get in the end).

fcw wrote:
you are located in the heart of Europe

Which is not an advantage if you are surrounded by the four biggest hubs of Europe, all having very good connections with Belgium.

fcw wrote:
you didn't pay for your slots

Except for some airports, this is not the big cost. The only advantage of the transition from Sabena to SN was that they have more favourable slots at several airport than what they could have got as a new carrier.

fcw wrote:
you recieve loads of State money and still

A max of 13 million per year, the same as HQ and JAF (in proportion). And don't even start about the state loan for their start up, peanuts compared to what many many other European carriers receive or received in the last 10-15 years.

fcw wrote:
I am afraid there is no much light at the end of the tunnel.

Indeed, I still see a lot of darkness in the tunnel of RYR-fans when talking about SN...seriously...

Romax, I think that fcw, as I do, have the utmost respect for SN as an airline, as a brand, as an operational entity and a team of dedicated staff like yourself. We're not happy though about the top 2% of the company that is watching as they dig themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

Yes, it's a tough environment, yes it's a tough market, but if you look at airlines across Europe, all their employees do the same jobs, the same tasks, just under different uniforms. So the only way to make a difference between a loser and winner, is decided by the top 2% of the airline.
IF you want SN to be part of the winning airlines, you need to realise that no matter how much the 98% employees at the bottom work hard to try to make a difference, the only way to make SN thrive is if the top 2% start doing something, instead of doing nothing getting their 4000 euro per month nett.

And yes, my "crazy" idea's might seem like impossible, but when 2 years later you see an airline like TK investing billions in an operation that is 95% the same as my idea, I think that naysayers would have to put their ego aside and start doubting whether SN didn't miss out on a big opportunity and whether the idea could not have been developed into something feasible, profitable that would have made the airline much more sustainable.
I invested a lot of my time trying to develop the idea and defend it in the light of criticism, without anything in return. Not that I expected anything in return, but I would have been just proud to see it work out.
Like Obama says, the Bhouse is where idea's go to die. Nothing is feasible, nothing is possible, nothing is worth trying. The sex must be really boring at the homes of the top 2%.

[StijnBRU]

how can anybody working in the airline business defend a strike... Time for a reality check!

We face the most destructive crisis in years for all possible airlines except the arabs, who are no commercial airlines at all. SN is in no ways proffitable and survives on the goodwill of LH and the state. And now the time is there for unions to go on a strike??
Be gratefull that as a home carrier there is something as the right to strike. Airline staff from foreign carriers, can go on strike for 1 time, and then they can keep on striking at home without a job. But use it only when the time is there and when you can affort it!