YC: That's not what is being reported in the media.
From Bloomberg today:
Luton, England, Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc's baggage
handlers voted 98 percent in favor of a strike to fight for more
pay and union recognition at Europe's No. 1 no-frills airline
following its merger with Go Fly Ltd., a union said.
The employees approved striking to protest an imposed pay
raise of 1.3 percent and EasyJet's failure to recognize both the
Transport & General Workers' Union and Amicus. The carrier now
recognizes only Amicus, which represents Go workers, rather than
the transport union. No date for a walkout has been set.
"The threat of a strike is very real,'' said John Street,
the transport union's regional industrial organizer in an e-mailed
statement. "Our members want a realistic pay offer which is not
linked to performance or target-setting. The 1.3 percent imposed
by the company does not meet their needs.''
EasyJet bought Go on Aug. 1 for 374 million pounds ($587
million) to overtake Ryanair Holdings Plc as the biggest low-fare
airline in Europe. The combined company's workforce is about 3,000
people. About 100 of EasyJet's 120 baggage workers voted.
The carrier is "confident that an amicable solution can be
reached which recognizes the role that unions can play in a fast-
growing, progressive company,'' said Samantha Day, an EasyJet
spokeswoman, in an e-mailed statement.
A strike ballot of EasyJet's cabin crew has been postponed to
enable talks on the baggage handlers' dispute to go ahead, the
union said. Flight attendants based at the U.K. airports of Luton,
Gatwick, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast will take part
in any vote, it said.
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