Ryanair call Union Members "selfish and under worked."

TTG live . com reports Ryanair has branded Unite members as “selfish and under worked” following their announcement to strike in the wake of a continued dispute with airport operator BAA.

The airline said a late August strike could disrupt travel for up to 50,000 of its passengers, with an estimated 300 flights per day being cancelled at three airports across the UK.
Ryanair also urged all customers affected by the strike to seek compensation directly from Unite’s General Secretary, Derek Simpson, after labelling the union’s tactics as blackmail targeted at ordinary passengers.
Ryanair’s Daniel de Carvalho said: “There is no justification for any strikes by these selfish and underworked Unite members at a time when traffic at BAA’s airports is falling and they are even less busy than they were last year.
“Unite members should be getting a pay freeze to reflect their reduced productivity at the BAA airports this year.”
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI all said they were monitoring the situation and hoped the BAA and Unite could reach an agreement that would prevent further disruption.
Ryanair said it would contact passengers whose flights were affected by the action and those not contacted should report to airports as normal.

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Strike updates

AIR BERLIN pilots (Vereinigung Cockpit) voted to strike by end of August if they cannot reach new deal with the airline.

AIR TRANSAT pilots (ALPA) overwhelmingly voted to strike if they cannot reach new deal with the airline.

EVERGREEN INTL AIRLINES pilots (ALPA) rejected tentative collective bargaining agreement with the airline.
Stay tuned

BAA averts strike

Ground staff offered 2 pct rise plus one-off payment



LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - British airport operator BAA offered ground staff a 2 percent pay rise plus a one-off payment of at least 500 pounds ($781), averting strikes which had threatened to close major UK airports, the Unite union said.
Unite said on Tuesday it would recommend its members at BAA -- which include security staff, firemen and engineers -- accept the pay settlement reached on Monday following nine hours of talks. [ID:nLDE67F1RQ]
The deal is an increase on BAA's previous offer of a 1 percent rise plus an extra 0.5 percent conditional on changes to sickness agreements.
"The negotiations were tough but Unite has delivered a fair offer for BAA staff," Unite national officers Brian Boyd and Brendan Gold said in a statement.
The threatened walkout by ground staff would likely have shut BAA's six British airports, which include Heathrow and Stansted in London, disrupting the plans of thousands of travellers at the height of the holiday season.
BAA apologised to passengers for uncertainty caused by the dispute, which followed strikes by airline cabin crew and disruption from the spread of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland this year.
"We believe this is a fair offer for staff in what remains a difficult economic environment for the aviation industry," a spokeswoman for BAA said.
"All parties brought a constructive approach to negotiations and we are sorry for the uncertainty ahead of yesterday's discussions."
Unite said that under the deal staff would get a 2 percent pay rise effective from the start of 2010, and arrangements to sick pay would remain unchanged.
BAA, owned by Spanish group Ferrovial (FER1.MC), had angered union members by withdrawing a 450 pound payment conditional on BAA's hitting earnings targets -- which it missed by 3 percent.
But the union said BAA had now agreed to lump-sum payments of between 500 and 900 pounds, linked to the earnings performance of each airport, to be paid in two installments.
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British airport operator BAA and the Unite union agree to talks

August 13, 2010


British airport operator BAA and the Unite union are to hold talks on Monday aimed at averting planned strikes by ground staff, conciliation service Acas said.
Unite said on Thursday its members at BAA, owned by Spanish group Ferrovial, had voted three-to-one in favor of industrial action in a dispute over pay.
The threatened walk-out by essential staff including security guards, firemen and engineers would probably close BAA's six British airports, which include London's Heathrow and Stansted, disrupting the travel plans of thousands of people.
"Talks between BAA and Unite will take place under the auspices of Acas at midday on Monday 16 August," Acas chief conciliator Peter Harwood said, adding that the talks would take place at an undisclosed location.
Unite's officials are also due to meet on August 16 to decide the dates of any walk-outs. The union has to give seven days' notice of planned industrial action.

Spanish air strike on hold

I have not posted additional information on the status of strikes effecting Europe. The past few days I have been monitoring the situation. But, now Spain’s air traffic controllers have called off a strike planned for later this month, saying they don’t want to further dent the country’s troubled tourism industry.

According to MailOnline, around 300,000 British tourists could have had their holidays ruined following the breakdown of negotiations over pay and working conditions on Friday.
But after an outcry from Spain’s tourist industry and a damning response from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the UNSCA union has vowed to postpone the action.
Spain’s tourism industry was hit particularly hard by the recession and, although many Britons will holiday there this summer, its overall visitor numbers have dropped dramatically the third year in a row.
UNSCA spokesman Cesar Cabo said: ‘The union understands the concerns of the tourism sector and passengers.’
Uncertainty over the possibility of strikes had already hurt last-minute bookings, which are lower than predicted. But tourism and airline officials feared visitor numbers could fall even further after talks with Spain’s airport authority AENA broke down last week.
Many tourists had already looked at cancelling or postponing their trips.
‘We would have liked the decision to be definitive and not just for the month of August,’ said Juan Ignacio Lema, chairman of AENA, in a statement.
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BA Ready for Strike Action

05 AUG 2010:

Talks between British Airways and the cabin crew union Unite, shows no sign of reaching an accord anytime soon. Instead, Unite is threatening to have cabin crew members vote again for further strikes starting in September. Meanwhile BA continues to train volunteer cabin crew and insists it will still be able to operate all its long-haul flights from Heathrow, regardless of the outcome of a strike vote.

The carrier issued a brief statement saying there had been a short a short meeting at ACAS on Tuesday and there were plans to meet again next week, but it provided no date for any future meeting.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said, "I want to reach a resolution, but we are preparing for further industrial action."

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Spain's Air Traffic Controllers Vote to Strike

August 4, 2010


Spain's air traffic controllers have voted to strike in mid-August to protest against pay cuts and changes to their job conditions, their union USCA said.
An exact date for the start or duration of the industrial action, likely to cause chaos in the nation's airports at the height of the busy tourist season, is still to be decided.
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