Around 150 Swissport employees protested their poor working conditions in Zurich on Saturday morning with a chorus of whistles and boos. They distributed a flyer to the passengers on which they asked for understanding for their situation.
‘The gathering of employees that you perceive today is not the reason for any long waiting times,’ write Swissport employees in the flyer they gave to passengers at Terminal 1. just aren’t enough people on duty to cope with the influx of vacationers. The employees are overloaded, the situation is unacceptable.
In front of the terminal building, about 150 employees gathered with whistles, union flags and cardboard signs on which they reaffirmed their demands: Better working conditions, a collective labor agreement (CCT) at the level of the former CTC. As a reminder, employees hired by Swissport at Geneva airport benefit from a CCT.
During the protest action, about fifty demonstrators finally went to the office of Swissport officials, where they filed their catalog of demands. The superiors have read the catalog. The action had no consequences for the operation of Zurich airport, as far as can be determined.
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However, the management of Swissport also made it known on the same day that the demands of the unions were ‘not fundable’ and that they also did not take sufficient account of the current situation in the aviation sector.
Since the pandemic until today, Swissport has recorded losses of several million francs. The company, headquartered in Opfikon (ZH), only wants to negotiate a new CLA with the unions in August and September.
The objective of both parties is to conclude a new collective labor agreement by January 1, 2023. The protest action on Saturday had, as far as can be seen, no effect on the functioning of the Zurich airport.
/ATS