Aviapartner strike at Brussels Airport

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mr mayhem
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Aviapartner strike at Brussels Airport

Post by mr mayhem »

After a serious work-accident this afternoon all activities at Avia Cargo have been suspended. Strikers want guarantees for safer working conditions.
This is the second serious safety incident in less then a week, in Ostend one of Avia's staff died last week after a work-related accident.
I hope this guy pulls through.

http://new.cash.be/articles/index.jsp?s ... leID=82366

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744rules
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Post by 744rules »

:offtopic:

but have you more info about the accident/incident
motorcycling : sensation with a twist of the wrist

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Atlantis
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Post by Atlantis »

744rules wrote::offtopic:

but have you more info about the accident/incident
It was this evening on Ring TV. An employee of Aviapartner had an accident on Brussels Airport when they were loading a cargo aircraft.

LX-LGX
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Post by LX-LGX »

and once again, innocent passengers who have nothing to do with the incident(s), are used as hostage.

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ElcoB
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Post by ElcoB »

LX-LGX wrote:and once again, innocent passengers who have nothing to do with the incident(s), are used as hostage.
Question is: by whom ?

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SN_fan
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Post by SN_fan »

If this is the cost to make more profit and keep the NEW shareholders happy it's a very high one. A human life is priceless !

LX-LGX
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Post by LX-LGX »

ElcoB wrote:
LX-LGX wrote:and once again, innocent passengers who have nothing to do with the incident(s), are used as hostage.
Question is: by whom ?
By whom??? Surely not by the staff from the airport Pizza Hut. And not by the Tie Shop either. If I'm well informed, it was Aviapartner's ground staff who decided not to offload the luggage.

Today's accident resulted in a wrist fracture. That is no reason to organize such strike, so trust there's another reason for the unions to go on strike. Salary increase perhaps?

mayhem
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Post by mayhem »

LX-LGX wrote: Today's accident resulted in a wrist fracture. That is no reason to organize such strike, so trust there's another reason for the unions to go on strike. Salary increase perhaps?
Since the take over by 3i workers have been reporting an increase in pressure and stress... They just use little incidents to show their displeasure.. Bad idea in my opinion to go on strike therefore...

Cartman
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Post by Cartman »

You wouldn't consider it a 'little incident' if you or one of your co-workers would get hurt because of a lack of safety due to high workload. Everyone has the right for a safe environment, both passengers (security etc) groun and airline staff.

Strange to see how some on this forum seem to give the impression that aviation is just a matter of taking pictures from take-offs and landings.
I'm in love with my lust, burning angelwings to dust, I wish I had your angel tonight...
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JAFflyer
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Post by JAFflyer »

still.... it's so typically Belgian to go on a strike if something is wrong. What happened to identify yourself with the corporate identity? One injury during loading/unloading an aircraft, I'm sorry to say this, but it is rather risky, so it could happen all the time.
You can only work what is legally correct and if you complain then that you work too much, try to change the constitution, but don't get your company in trouble.

Always have been opposed to strikes and always will be, sorry not a union fan. Just my opinion.

ILS25L
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Post by ILS25L »

Goodafternoon,
One injury will not jeopardize social relations between workers and management. I am sure that even union-people have brains (in contradiction to what some people believe) and that strikes are not happening after a one-night sleep. This is most likely the ..th incident in a long row that cross an acceptable border of acceptance. Once this border is crossed ancd negociations or talks do not help, the only thing which is left is more pressure on management by any legal means possible.
Do not forget that Belgian management at Aviapartner is also a victim of the shareholders of 3i (most likely not even Belgian ones) who's demands are like all capitalist-minded persons : more gains, more revenue with less workers.
Be sure that investments into security are not done by management after a first "minor" safety-accident. The only thing that brings management sensible for solutions is when this comes into the media.
Some of you has been hitting hard to unions but does anyone of you followed up this case and know what result was achieved ?
I guess not.
Be happy there are still unions around because all your holiday, extra allowances, your salary, your benefit fund plan (pension) ; these things are not always presents given by management.
My personal opinion,
Greetz, Karl

mayhem
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Post by mayhem »

ILS25L wrote: One injury will not jeopardize social relations between workers and management. I am sure that even union-people have brains (in contradiction to what some people believe) and that strikes are not happening after a one-night sleep.
The ones who set up the strike don't have brains imho. The ones hurt the most by the strike now are the white collar people working at lost and found, who get shouted at by angry pax because their bags weren't offloaded. It would have been way better if they had thought twice before going on a spontanious strike, and set up an announced strike. It would have brought the message to management as good, but with way less damage to AP's image, pax and workers at lost and found.

And on the investment thing, Aviapartner has been investing in new equipment as much as they used to do, not saying that all equipment is brand-new, some are old, but it's not as the media states that it is "unreliable and not safe".

foxtrot_lima_yankee
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Post by foxtrot_lima_yankee »

Euhm I heard from one of my colleages who used to work for the airport security that Aviapartner handworkers are overexploited, that the managements has no feelings for them.
Actually sometimes they are so overused that the security people need to load the luggages on the aircraft in their place, as they lie down on the cargo-area of the aircraft!!
Ok maybe pax are victims of such problems, but ok, all they need do is to wait a day longer and have their hotel room offered by the airlines.
The most who suffer damage are the airlines after all... they loose revenues and have to make arrangements for the stranded pax.

I do feel sorry for the Aviapartner workers, I feel sorry for the Pax, and I do feel sorry for the airlines.

I do not feel sorry for the rich shareholders who want to earn more money then they got, while poor handworkers risk their lives to earn
the minimum...

mayhem
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Post by mayhem »

foxtrot_lima_yankee wrote:Euhm I heard from one of my colleages who used to work for the airport security that Aviapartner handworkers are overexploited, that the managements has no feelings for them.
Actually sometimes they are so overused that the security people need to load the luggages on the aircraft in their place, as they lie down on the cargo-area of the aircraft!!
Ok maybe pax are victims of such problems, but ok, all they need do is to wait a day longer and have their hotel room offered by the airlines.
The most who suffer damage are the airlines after all... they loose revenues and have to make arrangements for the stranded pax.

I do feel sorry for the Aviapartner workers, I feel sorry for the Pax, and I do feel sorry for the airlines.

I do not feel sorry for the rich shareholders who want to earn more money then they got, while poor handworkers risk their lives to earn
the minimum...
lol, cleary you don't know anything about the situation. Security people loading luggage? Could be, but very hard to believe.. blue collars overexploited? You're talking like it's slavery :shock: It's very hard work out there, but so is it everywhere i guess, and they're free to quit their job if it's really so unbearable :?

I don't know about any pax being put in hotels, as all of the canceled flights were intra-european? (I might be wrong here, i don't know everything neither) and were rebooked on flights handled by flightcare.

Revenues lost by airlines will probably be recovered from Aviapartner. So the real victim here is Aviapartner and the white collar employees that can now clean up the mess the blue collars created!

And for the rich shareholders, well yeah, that's today's economy i suppose, but don't you want to get the highest return possible on your savings account? And your statement of "risking their lives" is a bit over the top... it is definitly a hard job with hazardous tasks, but they are not risking their lives if they follow procedures.

greetz

carlcat
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Post by carlcat »

I'm working daily with aviapartner since two years :

I see the workpressure growing for those people , how many times I saw aviapartner unloading and loading our plane with 2 or 3 persons were 5 or 6 persons required ( lack of people) , poorly maintained equipment ...

At the cargo same attitude , planes have to wait since pallets lost somewere , lack of people , last summer they added after complaints 5 persons at the cargo , still cargo not ready when the airplanes arrive . We hear the people on the floor , we hear their complains .

Some people just only sitting somewere on a chair at the airport are laughing with those who agree with the real problems at Aviapartner .

I know very well that SQ is upset on the way they have to delay flights due to absence of cargo , lost pallets , unbuilt pallets ..... and if it will continue SQ will leave BRU . Is this the purpose ?

This strike is not a joke but a warning something is fundamental wrong at Aviapartner .

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744rules
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Post by 744rules »

Carlcat,

I don't how well you know the SQ situation, but let me give you a little inside info :
- very often the sq cgo people don't even know what and how many cargo there is or will be on a flight
- avp should be sending a Estimated Zero Fuel Weight to Headquarters a least 4hours prior to departure in order to get a flightplan, but very often they cannot comply as SQ takes no decission. These results with angry people with maintenance, flightplanning, fuelling, loading staff,....
- in a lot of cases they do not listen to the loadcontroller/loadmaster when they tell SQ what can or cannot be loaded (volume, weight restrictions, payload restrictions due performance requirements, ....)
- they use their rules when can make good use of it. The rules must be applied when it suites them, if not, AVP has to ignore the rules.
- even the mechanics are fed up with the way SQ work. The maintenance contract with DL ends soon.
- avp looks like real amateurs in the eyes of the crews, as they don't know the background.

I will not argue about the fact that some equipment is not very well maintained, but defective equipment in only one aspect.
There are a lot of good and competent people with AVP (both blue collar and white collar), but for SQ the best is never good enough.
SQ think that because they are the customer, they can get away with anything.

Bottom line is that when these people go on (wild) strike for what looks a minor incident, is just the drop too much
motorcycling : sensation with a twist of the wrist

carlcat
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Post by carlcat »

Yes indeed the last sentence is the most important one .

Lets be positive : a good maintenance of the tooling + enough people on all level will bring Avia partner back to the perfect performance as it was in the past .

SQ is an other story to be discussed in another topic .

LX-LGX
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Post by LX-LGX »

foxtrot_lima_yankee wrote:Euhm I heard from one of my colleages who used to work for the airport security that Aviapartner handworkers are overexploited, that the managements has no feelings for them.
Actually sometimes they are so overused that the security people need to load the luggages on the aircraft in their place, as they lie down on the cargo-area of the aircraft!!
Of course.

A soccer team mate of the neighboor of my mother-in-law works for the company who has made the non smoking signs at the terminal buildings. He told me that handworkers are beaten up by management if a plane is delayed by more then 2 hours. I've also heard from this source that some workers even are not allowed to go home after their shift if the delay is 4 hours or more: working days of 24 hours non stop are very common at Aviapartner (he told me).

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Zenfookpower
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Post by Zenfookpower »

LX-LGX wrote:
foxtrot_lima_yankee wrote:Euhm I heard from one of my colleages who used to work for the airport security that Aviapartner handworkers are overexploited, that the managements has no feelings for them.
Actually sometimes they are so overused that the security people need to load the luggages on the aircraft in their place, as they lie down on the cargo-area of the aircraft!!
Of course.

A soccer team mate of the neighboor of my mother-in-law works for the company who has made the non smoking signs at the terminal buildings. He told me that handworkers are beaten up by management if a plane is delayed by more then 2 hours. I've also heard from this source that some workers even are not allowed to go home after their shift if the delay is 4 hours or more: working days of 24 hours non stop are very common at Aviapartner (he told me).
Do you guys have laws on the books dealing with Occupational Safety and Health issue at companies..
If so, then union or no union, just get the officials in the door to check, verify and fine the employer if proven at fault...

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