An indefinite strike notice was introduced on Friday by Belgian trade union CNE/ACV Puls to Ryanair management in Dublin on behalf of the Belgium-based cabin crew of the low-cost airline.
“Three years after having finally accepted to respect Belgian legislation, Ryanair continues to flout the rights of its workers. Every month, irregularities are committed concerning remuneration, and erroneous information continues to put workers in serious difficulty, particularly with regard to their health insurance and their economic unemployment linked to the COVID-19 crisis. The cup is full“, explains the statement from the Christian union.
“Every day, all the time, the staff reports violations to us on the part of Ryanair which does not respect the rules. It exhausts the staff“, says union secretary Didier Lebbe, who ensures that all means of negotiation have been used.
In particular, he points to a major shortcoming in the absence of a human resources director. In 2018, however, the unions had obtained from the management of Ryanair the nomination of “a Belgian HRD, who knows Belgian laws“. This one was indeed hired but is no longer in function today.
If no proposal is forwarded by management, actions will follow, promises the trade unionist. “We will coordinate, during the month of April, with the French who also introduced a strike notice last week. But it is clear that the movement will spread. The European aviation sector will experience turbulence,” he added.
On the pilots’ side, negotiations are underway, but “there is a good chance that social peace will also be broken“, concluded Didier Lebbe.
