The second conciliation meeting between the Brussels Airlines management and the trade unions ended without an agreement, after more than fifteen hours of negotiations to resolve the social conflict among the pilots.
Both parties have now entered a cooling-off period, but the trade unions have warned for another two days of strike in June. “There is a breach of trust between management and pilots“, according to the trade unions, “we remain willing to sit around the table again.”
The management is also prepared to renegotiate. “Everyone is now disillusioned, because we have not gone as far as hoped,” admits Etienne Davignon, chairman of the board of directors. “But there is no break, we just have not reached an agreement yet. This week we will launch a task force team to tackle the problematic workload of the pilots.”
The Brussels Airlines pilots are protesting against the deterioration of their working conditions and are claiming better pensions. On Wednesday some cabin crew members joined the movement as well.