Brussels Airlines faces industrial action from pilots in the run up to the busy Christmas travel period and less than two weeks after narrowly avoiding cabin crew strikes, after pilot unions confirmed dates for industrial action starting on 11 December 2023.
That’s when pilot members of relevant unions will withdraw their labour unless the Belgian national airline can negotiate a suspension from unions representing workers who are demanding financial guarantees and working arrangement reviews, including rest periods.
The threat of strikes looms just as extreme snowy weather has struck airports and rail operations across southern Germany, Austrian, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
Cabin crews and now pilots
The pilots’ strike comes in the wake of threatened cabin crew industrial action, after management published new work rosters without union consultation in breach of labour agreements. They also unilaterally changed the personnel requirements for recruiting to Cabin Chief or Chief Steward positions.
The Belgian flag carrier narrowly avoided those cabin crew strikes by submitting what was dubbed “a serious proposal” to address staff complaints over pay and conditions. The airline has brought a number of strike threats and widespread staff discontent upon itself by continuing to pay lower salary rates agreed to by hard-pressed staff back in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic meant the business to go through restructuring.
But pilots have similar grievances over working hours and rest periods, remuneration and conditions, and no serious proposal seems to have been yet forthcoming.
No proper answer
“During the corona crisis, rest times were changed increasing workload for cabin crews and pilots. Staff are now requesting structural measures to build more rest times into their schedules”, Jolinde Defieuw, from the ACV Puls union, said in mid-November.
In the absence of any “proper answer” submitted by the airline and despite so-called “reconciliation meetings”, the unions have confirmed the strikes are still planned to go ahead from 11 December. Management responses have so far been vague, expressing hope for “constructive solutions” for both sides.
Record profits but staff discontent
The growing impression to industry observers is that Brussels Airlines management are willing to push staff patience to the limits rather than plan proactively to reduce frustrations and enhance recruitment and retention.
With the airline now making record profits, it’s a strategy that is increasingly antagonising to unions. In the words of Olivier Van Camp, Permanent Secretary of SETCa union: “We have been making demands for two years, particularly in terms of rest periods, and nothing is changing. We cannot wait any longer.”
