Only 5 % to 6 % of the company’s hostesses and stewards would have already declared strikers.
by Guy Dutheil
Take an Air France plane for the holiday season should not be a ordeal for passengers. The strike notice launched by the two majority organizations among the company’s sales personnel (PNC) of the company, the Air France group of the Navigants (SNGAF) and the Union of Civil Aviation Navigants (UNAC), which runs From December 22, 2022 to January 2, 2023, would only meet very limited echo. According to our information, only 5 % to 6 % of Air France hostesses and stewards have already declared strikers. Since 2012, the DIARD law has obliged employees who directly contribute to the realization of the flights to declare themselves strikers forty-eight hours, at the latest, before the start of the conflict.
Questioned, the management of Air France was refused, Wednesday, December 21, to communicate the rate of participation in the conflict. However, she said that “for the day of December 22, Air France will ensure all of its flight program”. Clearly, the company should not cancel any flight and will transport all its passengers to destination. For their part, the two unions fear that management calls “to PNCs on leave to replace the strikers”, deplores Gabriel Pons, spokesperson for the SNGAF. The union will be “very vigilant and will point to all attacks on the right to strike”.
“Negotiations continue”
With the filing of this notice, the SNGAF and the UNAC intend to protest against the non-recondition of their collective agreement, arrived at October 31. This agreement which governs the working and remuneration conditions of the hostesses and stewards was replaced, for an indefinite period, by a “unilateral note” of the management. However, it is committed in writing to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation not to make any modification as long as discussions with the unions are not completed. The SNGAF and UNAC, which claimed that this “unilateral note” be fixed for “a fixed duration”, have suffered a refusal of the management.
For the time being, “negotiations are continuing,” said Air France. Management, which wishes to find productivity gains, would notably want to increase the number of passengers per PNC, which would go from 48 to 50 on certain long-haul flights. A limited effect measure, since it would only concern the ten Boeing 787 Dreamliner of the Fleet d’Air France.
Within this category of personnel, it is said that the non-reaches of the collective agreement would be only a pretext for the deposit of a strike notice. To believe them, the real reason for the conflict would be the proximity of the professional elections, scheduled for March 2023. On this occasion, the SNGAF and the UNAC, which is said to be losing momentum, could lose their majority for profit of the National Syndicate of Navigating Commercial Personnel and the National Union of Autonomous Unions, both gathered in an inter -union and opposed to the strike. In addition, this conflict would not be unanimous in the SNGAF. According to our information, four delegates from this union would have returned their mandate and resigned to protest against this strike.