– We will strike with SAS if they do not meet the pilots – E24

The union must assess its relationship with SAS after the latest discussion, union leader Mitt Nord told E24.

According to Nord, the Federation had as a guideline that flights on behalf of the Federation should be made with SAS to the extent possible.

Now they see no reason to be loyal to the airline.

– The reason we prefer SAS over other companies is precisely because they have structured conditions for employees, she says.

When SAS chooses to ignore agreements and bypass employees, we must take into account our use of the company. If SAS is now responsible for an anti-employee policy, we can’t consider it the airline of choice, Nord says.

The union states that in an average year they spend more than 12 million kroner on flights. In 2018 and 2019, the amount was NOK 12.7 million, and about 75 percent of this was with SAS.

reorganization

In recent weeks, former SAS employees have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the airline’s plans to reorganize, with the creation of SAS Link and the renaming of SAS Ireland to SAS Connect.

The airline had to lay off 5,000 employees during the pandemic, including 560 pilots, including 200 Norwegians.

These have pointed to a contractual right to re-hire, and they believe SAS is trying to circumvent it by bringing in new pilots to affiliates. SAS disputes this and says that the right to re-employment applies to parent company SAS Scandinavia.

– We’re looking

But the union insists pilots have that right to re-employment anyway. So the SAS cannot hire new pilots until the fired pilots are reinstated to their old job, the association believes.

– We will strike with the SAS if they do not meet the pilots. Then we use our consumer power, and we see no reason to prefer it over other airlines.

The guild leader stresses that there is no dispute in the boycott.

– We have tested that the SAS is ranked when it comes to working conditions. If they intend to become like everyone else, there is no boycott in them, but we also see no reason to be loyal to a company that violates these values.

We are happy to pay for regulated conditions, she adds.

Do you expect others to follow you?

“People are free to choose for themselves, but we appreciate the regulated conditions, and hope other customers in SAS and aviation in general will do the same,” says Nord.

The union is the largest union in Norway, with 18,000 store supervisors and up to 400,000 members.

At Fellesforbundet, Director of Communications André Nerheim stated that they are critical of what SAS is doing now, but that they also have members there, and therefore would not take a similar step.

And Industri Energi, which regulates 56,000 in the onshore and offshore industry, says it now has “a clear expectation that suppliers who use it will act seriously and properly”.

The electrochemical part of the compound statement has already been adopted They say SAS is now “in the process of uprooting its position as a company of choice”.

The leader is Tomasgaard in her LO aviation It was previously called It is “disappointing” that SAS “now challenges fitness in flight”.

SAS requests to meet the pilots

SAS Press Director John Eckhoff has received criticism from the labor union, and responded Wednesday night that SAS has now taken the initiative to hold a meeting with the pilots after recent discussions.

– The SAS management is interested in a good relationship with both employees and unions, and today it has taken an initiative for the parties to sit down and talk about SAS in the future. Everyone wants the same thing, a strong and successful SAS, with employees on Scandinavian terms, writes Eckhoff in a text message.

He assures that SAS is a responsible employer that adheres to the agreements made.

– However, the starting point is consistent: if SAS is to survive and secure Norwegian and Scandinavian jobs, we must adapt to the new reality with a greater proportion of leisure travelers and fewer business travelers. The epidemic is not over even though the planes are full.