After the strike announcement on Saturday, there was a discussion on Sunday between AUA management and the employee side in the ongoing salary dispute. But there was no rapprochement, the company said afterwards.
The vida union and the employee representatives of the Austrian Airlines on-board crew have announced that they were “forced” to go on strike in the middle of Easter traffic. Work should stop on Thursday from midnight until Friday at 12 noon.
According to AUA management, 430 flights were scheduled for this period with 52,000 passengers booked. The AUA is trying to bring forward flights and reschedule them to minimize inconvenience for customers.
An AUA spokeswoman was unable to say on Sunday when the list of flights to be canceled would be published. By Tuesday at the latest, it will be clear to customers which flights will be canceled.
Also read: What passengers can do now
Conversely, the union said on Sunday that it would be ready to talk until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday – a labor dispute could be canceled by then. However, a corresponding offer must be put on the table. After the Sunday meeting, the AUA said: “The vida union and the Bord works council informed the company in a personal conversation that the offer was of a plus of up to 18 percent for flight attendants and pilots, and even up to 28 percent for co-pilots , not enough.”
High rewards, but unique
In detail, the offer looks like this: Term 22 months, in the first year one percent on top of the rolling inflation, i.e. 7.8 percent. In the second year, in any case, compensation for inflation and, if the earning power is appropriate, not one but two months’ salary as a bonus.
Calculated, this means up to 18 percent more, and for the co-pilots there would be a sustained increase of an additional ten percent.
This is not a negotiable offer for the union because it means one-off payments and does not close the gap to Lufthansa salary levels. The AUA says: “With this offer, the company has already moved beyond the economically feasible pain threshold.”
As reported, the AUA staff is currently receiving a monthly salary as a profit share. The corresponding clause in the collective agreement applies for the first time. 30 million euros will be paid out. The AUA management argues that the gap to Lufthansa is due to AUA’s poorer profitability. The competition at the home airport in Vienna is fierce. The low-cost airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air have reduced AUA’s market share to less than 50 percent.
Günther Ofner, chairman of the aviation professional group in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, judges the union’s demands to be “excessive.” “This would massively jeopardize the AUA’s economic base, which has just recovered from an existential crisis, and thus also 6,200 jobs for AUA employees.”
Author
Sigrid Brandstätter
deputy head of the economics department
Sigrid Brandstätter
