There is now a threat of company meetings and strikes during the important Easter travel period. The works council broke off the talks, a company spokeswoman told APA. “We hope that the works council will return to the negotiating table quickly,” she said. The vida union confirmed the demolition and is demanding an “honest offer” from the AUA, which is only playing with numbers.
Daniel Liebhart, chairman of vida’s aviation department, said in an interview with the APA on Thursday evening: “The company is just playing with numbers. To us it seems as if it was planned long in advance, otherwise honest numbers would be used.” The company wants to “force the workforce to go on strike during the Easter travel season”.
The degree offered is “fictitious”. You can’t factor in future inflation figures that you don’t yet know. In principle, there is no chance of finding a deal by the end of 2025, as the AUA would like, said Liebhart when asked.
Union points to “record profits”
But the company still has time to make “a serious offer,” said Liebhart. “That’s what it has to do and that’s what it has to want to do.” Because the employees deserved it, the trade unionist pointed out, among other things, a recent “record profit”.
And then you can continue negotiations as planned on Friday and, if necessary, present the offer to the employees for approval. If there is no such offer, the works council will discuss further steps on Friday. Work meetings, warning strikes and strikes could follow. AUA on-board works council chief Rainer Stratberger could not be reached.
Another day of negotiations would have been scheduled for Friday. The AUA spokeswoman emphasized to Liebhart that the company was ready to continue talking on Friday – but she pointed out to the APA the offer that the employee representatives did not see as such.
Important travel time
Holy Week is an important travel time. Recently, hundreds of flights were canceled due to company meetings. “We hope there are no strikes so that passengers can travel for the Easter holidays,” said the AUA spokeswoman
Once again, the spokeswoman warned on behalf of the company that vida’s demand, taking into account concessions such as time off regulations, would bring jumps of 40 percent for some salary levels. The company, on the other hand, is prepared to increase an average of up to 18 percent for the cockpit and cabin and up to 28 percent for co-pilots. Vida and the works council obviously see these figures completely differently. However, there were no clear public demands from the employee representatives themselves.
In a conversation with the APA, the company representative was bothered by the fact that the union only wanted to negotiate until the end of 2024 (starting in March 2024). The AUA itself advocates a term of 22 months – i.e. until the end of 2025. The corporate package essentially consists of increases “well above rolling inflation, increases in profit sharing and a longer term”.
This post was updated at 8:25 p.m.
