Air France Strike 25-29 October

[ORAC]

PARIS, Oct 22 (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/article/tnBasicIndustries-SP/idUSL2273080320071022) - Unions representing cabin crew at French air carrier Air France have called a five-day strike to press management to review salary and working conditions, trade union sources told Reuters.

"There is a strike notice from Oct. 25 to Oct. 29 included. All unions are taking part in it, which is a first at Air France," a union source said.
The sources said unions were trying to pressure management into renegotiating an agreement on salaries and working conditions that will expire at the end of 2007.

"Talks are about salaries and working time. Air France has so far refused unions' demands," the first source said. "People are very motivated because some salaries have been frozen for 10 years, and working conditions have been affected to help the company recover. The company is now doing extremely well and we do not see the benefits of that," she added.

A spokeswoman for Air France-KLM, the world's largest airline by revenue, said a meeting between management and union representatives started on Monday, but she declined to say what they were discussing.

It was not immediately clear what proportion of Air France's cabin crew staff would effectively go on strike, sources said........

[A320 galleybitch]

Good on them, cabin crew pay and conditions have been on the down slide for far too long!!!!

Air France-KLM crew you have my support!!!!!!

[Morissette]

And you have my support too! It's good to see courageous people fighting for their rights i.e decent salary, good and therefore safe working conditions etc..Will that ever happen with the likes of easyJet, Ryanair or Flyzoom? Of course not! Thank God, there isn't a lot of Eastern Europeans speaking French or Dutch so they can't be employed by Air France-KLM, so no salary dumping for Air France-KLM crew.

[cocacola88]

Really great to see cabin crew get unified again!
just a small question.. Would there be a lot of flight disruption during strike period?:eek::ok:

[A320 galleybitch]

I think the whole idea of industrial action is to disrupt the schedules!!!!!!!!

If it takes drastic measures by staff for a company to realise they are doing wrong, then so be it. And if 5 days of strike action causes absolute caos for better work conditions then so be it too.

[flyblue]

Would there be a lot of flight disruption during strike period

The company expects a lot of disruptions in Medium and Short Haul, less (around 10%) on Long Haul. The Unions Delegate elections last September had a huge rate of voters (86%), more than usual, so it could be worse than the Company expects. Let's wait and see.

[cocacola88]

didn't hear anything about it.. honestly, i am not in paris at this moment. but will be during this weekend.
Could anyone keep me updated about everything about the strike? many thanks!

[flyblue]

The strike started this morning. There is a 70-80% of CC on strike. Many flights canceled (70% in ORY and CDG) or delayed. Flights departing with the minimum required number of CC. It seems that they are using up all the CC Instructors today, the situation should be much worse tomorrow when this resource has run dry. The pilots (some of their Unions) issued a statement supporting the CC. Some Captains have refused to depart if too many CC were missing (even if within the legal number) or with Pursers flying as Cabin Service Managers, or CC flying as Pursers.
The French media observe a strict blackout about the strike, but they won't be able to do so for long because the disruption is really massive.

6 PM update:
80% on strike
298 flights canceled

[sinala1]

Flyblue Good Luck to you and all your colleagues... heres hoping for an outcome that can work for everyone :ok:

[cocacola88]

Thank you so much Flyblue!
I really hope you can keep us updated until monday.
Would the situation on Monday turning slightly better? Because I might be flying to Paris on Monday and probably commuting...
but no matter what, I really wihs you all cabin crew good luck! Hopefully the outcome is a veyr positive one.
take care.

[gtadxb]

The strike is very widely followed, I think the crunch will be tomorrow saturday as all CSDs and Supervisors who have been called out to replace strikers will have run out... This will probably affect long haul now as well. I got back this morning from RUN (we left Paris before the strike had started) and all of us on the crew, from Purser to CC are on strike as of today. The flight that got in this morning to RUN (B777-300) was operated by 5 crew !! So "only" 250 pax were allowed to board. What is surprising is that AF is still announcing that 70% of its flights are maintained... not true !!!
All cabin crew at AF are for once very much united... and as we say, "L'union fait la force !"

[Morissette]

Bravo PNC AF! ne lachez pas, faites valoir vos droits, courage :)
I just don't get it! Air France-KLM is one of the most profitable airline in the world and you guys are partly responsible for that success and should therefore be duly rewarded. Keep on collègues, don't give up.

Battez-vous et surtout ne vous laisser pas faire par ces dirigeants qui n'ont qu'une seule envie, que vous deveniez des PNC idiots comme ceux d'easyjet, ryanair même pas foutus de s'organiser pour avoir un syndicat solide! Mais bon, c'est aussi du en partie aux pnc venus d'europe de l'est et qui font du dumping salarial et qui ruinent les conditions de travail des cabin crew...Je me sens encore en sécurité chez Netjets, mais j'ai peur, de plus en plus de recrues viennent d'europe de l'est et sont prêtes à démolir nos conventions collectives de travail.

Love & support from Morissette

[panda-k-bear]

@gtadxb - that's interesting! Most of the "navette" flights from PAR - TLS were cancelled yesterday so AF did a rotation with one of the "Outre-mer" 777-300ERs to pick up as many pax as they could - but they again had only 5 cc, so were also limited to 250 pax - which didn't really solve the situation!

[Muizenberg]

Good luck to all the AF crew who are standing up for their terms and conditions. At BA our potential strike that was called off the the last moment has shown very little benefit. The company is dragging it's heals and has not dealt with many of the core issues raised by the near dispute!

In an age when airlines are making a record profits, they all need to realise that we as Cabin Crew play a major role in their success! We are not the problem, but the reason customers come back!

[gtadxb]

Merci Morrissette ! Je fais passer le message !

[Ludo]

Today:
-400 cancellations
-84% of CC on strike
-no flight departing after 2PM

Thank you for your support!
We accepted pay cuts and an increase in workload back in the 90ies when we were almost bankrupt, but since then we have gained nothing back despite the huge profits the company is making.

[scoobydooo]

Good luck,

Sorry to hear you were left with no option but to strike. Such a great % of CC striking and the pilots supporting you sends a very clear message indeed.

[BA Boi]

you must fight for what you believe in.

i really wish you all the best of success.

stand firm.

:D.

[Ludo]

Thank you very much for your support! :)