Today, the pilots’ unions have submitted a resignation to the national mediator. It goes towards mediation and possible conflict from the end of June. – There is no other way out. We are in a situation where SAS has demanded the pilot corps for 30 percent savings. At the same time, they have moved our jobs to a manning agency, says Roger Klokset, leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association. The problems arise for SAS. The company is in big financial trouble and needs to put in more money. 4,000 cancellations have already been announced this summer, and in addition they are struggling with customers experiencing poor service. On Friday, it became clear that the Norwegian Consumer Agency will check whether they are breaking the law in relation to misleading marketing. Now a strike is threatening. – We have tried every opportunity to come to a solution with SAS. Since November, we have tried to meet them with the savings SAS wants, but we get no guarantees. We get nothing back, says Jan Levi Skogvang, head of the Parat pilots at SAS. Jan Levi Skogvang, leader of the Parat pilots in SAS and Roger Klokset, leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots ‘association, have today announced the termination of their pilot members’ seats. Photo: Astri Husø / news What is a termination of employment? Termination of employment is the termination of employment contracts for the purpose of initiating a strike or lockout. Also known as: collective redundancies and redundancies. In order to be able to initiate a strike or lockout, it is a condition that written notice of termination is given and the notice period has expired. According to the Labor Disputes Act, the deadline is 14 days, unless otherwise stipulated. The possible pilot strike that has been announced will start on 29 June. Source: Large Norwegian encyclopedia. Ready to strike Tor Hillmann is a pilot and helmsman at SAS. He is ready to go on strike for his workplace. Despite the fact that it can ultimately be the nail in the coffin for the company. Tor Hillmann, helmsman of SAS is ready to fight. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news – It is incredibly sad that it has gone so far. A strike is never good, but as an employee group we have no choice. If the management maintains the current course, we who work at SAS Scandinavia will be gone in two or three years. It is a being or not being for us, he says. During the pandemic, SAS established two subsidiaries: SAS Link and SAS Connect. They will be responsible for a lot of aircraft rentals and pilots. – SAS is blessed with experienced, competitive pilots who are extremely loyal. That loyalty only goes one way. During the pandemic, they laid off 560 pilots, moving more and more flights to subsidiaries. For us, it is a battle for working life, says Hillmann. The Norwegian SAS Pilots’ Association believes this applies to all employees. SAS is heavily indebted. This week it was revealed that the Swedish state, one of the owners, will not spit more money into the company. Photo: Astri Husø / news – If the SAS management can play any employee with a collective agreement of the runway through organizational measures, the Norwegian and Scandinavian working life model has lost, says Klokset, leader of the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association Of the pilots in the main company who were fired during the pandemic, has about 100 got their jobs back. The others do not, despite the fact that, according to the union of Norwegian SAS pilots, they had a re-employment agreement. Instead, SAS is now looking for employees for the two new companies. The dismissed pilots can also apply for jobs there, but with different and worse conditions than they had in SAS Scandinavia. Thus, very few have applied for a job there. In May, the dismissed pilots sued SAS before the labor court for not getting their jobs back. Tougher climate Tor Hillmann joined SAS in 1998 and worked his way up to captaincy. During the pandemic, he was demoted to helmsman. At the same time, he received a reduced salary, because SAS no longer needed so many captains when the routes were cut. Nevertheless, Hilmann remains. Photo: Astri Husø / news If he changes workplace, he loses the seniority he has gained through a long career. – We have no place to escape. SAS now operates with split and rule technology, he says. Poor situation after the pandemic In addition to the announced summer cancellations, further flights are canceled for other reasons. The airline is now in a difficult situation after the pandemic. Skogvang believes the management’s poor choices have led them to a corner. – The work our pilots do should not be left to staffing companies, as SAS does today, says Skogvang. Photo: Astri Husø / news – We came out of the pandemic as a company with huge debt obligations while other companies managed to settle their things during the pandemic. It is not the pilots’ fault that we are standing here today, he says. Impossible position If the parties do not agree on an agreement through mediation, there will be a strike. It can affect thousands of travelers who are going on summer vacation. – It is very unfortunate, we have since November tried to avoid this situation. We do not get anything more out of SAS and they do not meet us. Then we must take this step, says Skogvang in the Parat pilots. What have you put on the table? – Savings in the form of a wage reduction of 5 percent, less work in the winter to work more in the summer and working weeks up to 60 hours compared to the current 47.5, Klokset explains. According to the two union leaders, their offer corresponds to a 20–25 per cent cost saving against SAS’s target of 30 per cent. Klokset admits that this is a serious situation for the company and its members. – Of course we understand that. But it is impossible for us to put big savings on the table without security for our workplaces, he says.
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SAS pilots can go on strike before the joint holiday – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
