Two hostess and stewards unions made a notice for the period from December 22 to January 2. The management wants to be reassuring.
by Guy Dutheil
The social climate is reaching out to Air France. “We are heading for a conflict,” says Sébastien Portal, secretary general of the Air France group of the Navigants (SNGAF). Accompanied by the Union of Navigants of Civil Aviation (UNAC), the SNGAF filed a strike notice which runs from December 22 to January 2, 2023. It covers all of the end of year celebrations. A period of strong activity for the company.
The two unions did not digest that a collective agreement governing the working conditions of the hostesses and stewards expired on October 31 without having been renewed. Faced with this deficiency, the management wrote a “unilateral note” which determines, for an indefinite period, the working conditions and remuneration of commercial navigious personnel (PNC).
“Employees are worried. They are convinced that management has something in mind,” deplores Mr. Portal. During the negotiations on the collective agreement, the company had notably said that it would like to increase the number of passengers per PNC. The management would like to pass it from 48 to 50. This measure would only concern the ten Boeing 787 long-haul of the fleet. 2> “The discussions continue”
In order to reassure the PNC, Ben Smith and Anne Rigail, respectively Managing Director of Air France-KLM and Director General of Air France, took, by mail, the commitment to change nothing before a new collective agreement is concluded. However, suspicion remains. “This commitment has no legal value,” challenge the SNGAF and UNAC.
The two organizations are worried. “We had the first framing meeting on Tuesday, December 13. We still have six scheduled meetings. At this rate, we will not have a new collective agreement before April 2023”, fears Sébastien Portal. A period that would leave employees “at the mercy of management to modify [the] working and remuneration conditions”, adds the union manager.
Above all, the calendar retained by management spans the professional elections scheduled for March 2023. These would not be very favorable to SNGAF and UNAC, we suggest within the company. The two unions could lose their majority there for the benefit of the National Union of Commercial Navigating Personnel and the National Union of Autonomous Unions, both gathered as an inter -union and opposed to the strike.
A few days before the start of the conflict, the management says it remains serene, saying that “Air France does not provide for cancellations of flights”. According to him, “the discussions continue” with the unions and, for the moment, “[the company] plans to transport all of its customers” from the Christmas day after the day New Year.