Four hours of mediation on Monday morning did not last long. By the deadline at 12 noon, it became clear that the SAS pilots would be taken out on strike. – This is mainly very bad news. We are crushed, says CEO of SAS Anko van der Werff. – This was to be the summer where everyone would finally travel again. SAS has major financial challenges. The company is currently trying to find investors. – Will the company survive this? – How in the world should a strike in high season – while we are looking for investors – help us? Will hit thousands daily There are a total of around 900 pilots, from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who are taken out on strike. In Norway, the Norwegian Pilots’ Association has delivered resignations for 254 pilots, while Parat has delivered for 148. A major strike among SAS pilots will affect around 250 departures, according to the news agency TT. Chief of SAS Norway Kjetil Håbjørg states that 30,000 passengers will be affected daily, and that approximately 15,000 will arrive. SAS writes in a statement that the strike will lead to cancellations of around half of all their flights. Analysts have concluded that a strike will cost SAS 80-100 million. Weekday. This is the conflict SAS and their pilots do not disagree on pay. The core of the conflict is the creation of two staffing companies. During the pandemic, around 560 pilots lost their jobs. At the same time, SAS established two subsidiaries. They were named SAS Link and SAS Connect. These will take over aircraft and be filled with new pilots. The SAS pilots who were laid off during the pandemic will have their jobs back. They say SAS is trying to circumvent its obligations to bring the dismissed pilots back. SAS rejects this. They believe the company relates to all agreements entered into. According to the pilot association, the pilots have agreed to savings measures that amount to 25 percent savings. In return, they will have an assurance that it is their members who get the new jobs that will be filled in SAS Link and SAS Connect. Has received redundancy notice SAS employees throughout Norway have received redundancy notice. It reports communications manager in SAS Norway, Tonje Sund, to TV 2. She does not know how many it applies. A redundancy notice is an opportunity the employer has to protect the company in connection with a strike, Sund states. – This is dramatic, not only for travelers, but also for the employees. This puts the whole company in danger, she tells TV 2. Full strike within 24 hours The chief negotiator for SAS, Marianne Hernæs, explains that the pilots have been re-employed, but not in the parent company. – It is compensation and flexibility they do not want to meet us with. SAS must have agreed with the pilots that they will not be on strike until they are in their home bases. – So we will experience that there are some planes that go, but within 24 hours all pilots will be on strike. Unique scope of postponements – It is a difficult day for everyone who has been on. This is what national mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland says about the intense negotiations in the pilot conflict. He points out that the scope of postponements in the negotiation is unique. – I do not know of any situations in recent times where similar postponements have been made, Ruland says. This is due to the complexity of the mediation, but also that the parties have wanted to continue the work, the national mediator explains. Now the conflict is underway, and it is up to the parties to resolve it. The Ombudsman will be available at short notice if the parties wish to resume dialogue. Eventually, the Ombudsman will also consider taking up contact with the parties. – It is not an option that the parties do not agree. They always will be and they will be here too, says Ruland. – The responsibility lies with SAS Roger Klokset, leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association (NSF), says that they started a dialogue with the SAS management in November to resolve the conflict. – We can not go further to meet the management. The responsibility lies 100 percent with the SAS management, Klokset tells news. At the heart of the conflict is the creation of two subsidiaries, which were created at the same time as 560 pilots lost their jobs. The SAS pilots believe that the company is circumventing its obligations by bringing in new pilots, rather than hiring those who lost their jobs. Roger Klokset and Martin Lindgren represent the Norwegian and Swedish pilot associations. Photo: CHRIS ANDERSON / TT / NTB Martin Lindgren in the Swedish pilot association, says a lot is about how SAS has treated its employees in recent years. – We have come here with the ambition of securing our jobs and contributing to SAS Forward, without success. We have experienced that the destination has been moved time and time again. – We think we take the train Considering the train Shortly after 12 o’clock the cancellations began. Maja Wilhelmsen and her family were going to Croatia. There awaits the holiday home they have rented with two other families. – Now our flight to Split will most likely also be canceled, so I have no idea how to get there. Maja Wilhelmsen, Snorre Hansen Wilhelmsen, Birk Hansen Wilhelmsen and Thomas Helge Hansen stayed at Gardermoen on Monday. Photo: Veronica Westhrin / news The hope is now to find an alternative route. Both train and rental car are considered to arrive at the destination. – I think we’ll take the train. It goes on the ground, safe and nice, says Thomas Helge Hansen. Three choices if your flight is canceled due to SAS strike In the event of a canceled flight, you have three choices, depending on the type of ticket: Cancel the ticket and get it refunded. You can request a refund at sas.no. If you ordered it through a travel agency or a tour operator, you can contact them directly for the fastest possible process. Rebooking to a flight at a later date. If you would rather change your trip to a later date, you can contact Customer Service after the strike is over. For all travel reservations made by SAS, please visit sas.no for contact information. Arrange alternative travel methods. If you have to travel, for example if you are stranded at your destination, you can arrange alternative transport on your own and apply for a refund from SAS. If we are unable to rebook you for a new flight that roughly corresponds to your original departure time you can book with another company, take a train, bus or rent a car. We then consider the difference between the cost of a new alternative transport under comparable transport conditions and your unused SAS ticket. If you choose to book a new transport, remember to cancel your ticket with SAS to get it refunded. Source: SAS – The last week has really only been nervous Lars Svartdal was also going to Croatia with his family. The trip has been planned for about 200 days. They have been looking forward to the first long trip since the start of the corona pandemic. – I sweat cold and am a little nauseous, and do not think this is anything fun. We should have been looking forward to it for a long time, and the last week has really only been nervousness, says Svartdal at Gardermoen just before the mediation deadline. – How sure are you that the plane is actually going? – I dare not hope. I hope they manage to agree both parties, and that they do not ruin the holiday for us and very many others. Lars Svartdal with the family at Gardermoen. They have been checked in, but do not know if the flight to Croatia actually goes. Photo: Veronica Westhrin / news Wanted to sit through the night At 22 o’clock on Sunday, it became clear that the pilot associations ended the mediation for the evening. – We think it is appropriate to get some sleep and rest before we enter the decisive phase, said NSF leader Roger Klokset. SAS chief negotiator Marianne Hernæs was upset that the pilot associations would not negotiate overnight until Monday. – I’m very, very surprised. For we had indicated that we were willing to sit through the night. Every hour counts. So it was disappointing, simply put, Hernæs said on his way into the negotiating rooms on Monday. Negotiation manager at SAS, Marianne Hernæs. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news Asked for clarification NSF leader Klokset said at the start on Monday morning that they could participate in further negotiations after 12 o’clock. – If the situation requires it, we will of course do so. It is too stupid to just leave the premises and send 900 pilots on strike because a deadline has expired. Hernæs, on the other hand, was not in favor of a further postponement of the deadline. – It takes a lot for us to choose to postpone once more. There must be a clarification, for the sake of our passengers. – There is no point in postponing and postponing if you are far apart. Then it is probably better to just tear off the patch. There were long queues at Oslo Airport on Friday. Strikes are among many factors that have caused trouble for travelers across Europe. The SAS strike could hurt worse. Photo: Kari Stokke Nilsen / news Four mediation deadlines On Saturday, a new mediation deadline was set for the fourth time. The parties then took a break, but resumed negotiations on Sunday. The original deadline was June 29, but the parties agreed to mediate until Friday, July 1 at 24.00. As the deadline began to approach Friday night, the negotiator made it clear that the parties were in the process of breaking another mediation deadline. A new deadline was set for Saturday 2 July at 11 am, but as is well known, this was also further postponed until Monday 4 July at 12 noon.
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SAS and the pilots did not agree – now 900 pilots are taken out on strike – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
