EZY warning strike at SXF this morning

[FliegerTiger]

Pilots & cabin crew of easyJet based at Berlin Schoenefeld will be striking this morning between the hours of 0530 and 1030 local time.
This is due to the company's lack of engagement in forming a "Betriebsrat" (Works Council), a basic German worker's right.


Easyjet-Mitarbeiter streiken in Schönefeld
Mittwoch, 17. Februar 2010 23:21

Die Gewerkschaft Ver.di hat die rund 300 Angestellten der Fluglinie Easyjet in Berlin zu Arbeitsniederlegungen aufgerufen. Am Donnerstag soll zwischen 5.30 Uhr bis 10.30 Uhr am Flughafen Schönefeld nichts mehr gehen. Reisende müssen mit erheblichen Behinderungen im Flugverkehr rechnen.

Die Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft Ver.di hat die Beschäftigten der Billigfluglinie Easyjet in Schönefeld zu einem Warnstreik aufgerufen. Am Donnerstag soll von 5.30 Uhr bis 10.30 Uhr die Arbeit niedergelegt. Es ist mit erheblichen Auswirkungen auf den Flugverkehr zu rechnen.


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Die aktuellen Abflugzeiten Anlass für den Ausstand ist der Streit um einen Mitbestimmungstarifvertrag für die rund 300 Easyjet-Beschäftigten in Berlin-Schönefeld. Die Mitarbeiter der Fluglinie wollen in Berlin einen Betriebsrat gründen. Das Unternehmen hatte vor dem Landesarbeitsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg dagegen geklagt und Recht bekommen. Demnach kann nur ein Betriebsrat gegründet werden, wenn die Angestellten über Tarifverträge verfügen. Die Mitarbeiter sind jedoch über die Easyjet-Zentrale in Großbritannien angestellt. Deshalb kämpfen die Mitarbeiter der Fluglinie in Berlin darum, dass Tarifverträge nach deutschem Recht eingeführt werden. Im Moment liegen die Verhandlungen darüber jedoch brach.

"Nach sieben erfolglosen Verhandlungstagen lässt sich die Gewerkschaft nicht mehr länger hinhalten. Es reicht!“, sagte Holger Rößler, Ver.di-Verhandlungsführer und zuständiger Betreuungssekretär im Bereich Luftfahrt.

Ver.di vertritt die Interessen von rund 300 Beschäftigten des Cockpit- und Kabinenpersonals der Basis Berlin-Schönefeld.


(Source: Berliner Morgenpost newspaper)

[autobrake3]

Amazing. Given jobs in Germany where nothing else available (Aerolloyd etc). Pay no tax for 5 years taking home far in excess of UK colleagues. Then with weakened Stirling and a requirement to join the the rest of us and pay tax the toys get thrown out of the cot thereby screwing everyone in the midst of a recession. Now if the Berlin pilot population and BALPA were lending their support in a strike to end the 'employment' of unpaid pilots some sympathy might be forthcoming. While I keep getting called off sby to pos SXF and cover flights for organised sick-ins or an inability to exercise 10 mins of discretion my sympathies will remain elsewhere.

[GreatBelt]

Autobrake3,

The things is if easyJet wants to operate in different countries they have to follow the local laws. Just like in i.e. France.

Having "cheap" UK labour not paying social security and tax in Germany despite being based there is called social dumpning, which clearly the German authorities are now having an eye on.

And YOU should be happy that the Germans have the gut to fight. Because if they get a poor German contract, the Berlin guys will fly your routes soon and guess where the UK jobs will move to...

[FliegerTiger]

autobrake3,

You obviously have no idea what implications NOT having a works council would bring, not just for the SXF community, but in the longer term for ALL pilots in easyJet (via cheap German contracts)

[FliegerTiger]

You beat me to it, GreatBelt!

[maan]

@ autobrake3:

I't amazing that you don't see what is coming! You just see the pilots in SXF as spoiled and you envy the beneficial tax situation which was great in the past.

The pilots in SXF are not asking for anything more than what they (and you!!) deserve: an average salary benchmarked against the other players in the market and a works council, which is their right according to the German Labour Law.

What the management is trying to do is to create a contract with a B-scale (or even C-scale) where new joiners OR NEW UPGRADES end up in Berlin at a VERY low salary.

Imagine where all of the new commanders would end up, eh?

Now THIS IS WHY YOU and your UK colleagues should support the guys in SXF instead of being jealous. They are fighting for YOUR terms and conditions as well!

[5150]

Respect to the Berlin boys.

Nice to see a bit of solidarity too - BALPA take note - you're an embarrassment!

[stansdead]

It's the Captain's choice whether to exercise discretion or not. 1 second, 1 minute, 10 minutes, irrelevant.

It's not a tool for easyJet to use.

If the Skipper says no, there's no case to answer. Irrespective of what you think.

Anyhow, you're on an old contract and not worried about anyone but yourself.

Good luck in positioning regularly............:ugh:

[Piltdown Man]

The German branch of Easy's employees appear to be taking the initiative. Local contracts, local rules, local working practices. Easy knowingly bought into that when the opened up SXF. And if you don't play by the rules, you should expect some trouble.

So one question is, what is Easy's UK (BALPA) CC position regarding their German colleagues? I do hope that it is supportive. The other is who is getting screwed? And for what its worth, Germany isn't in a recession, it's on the way up. I'll bet Easy really appreciate the lovely income generated in Euros by the SXF operation.

PM

[Airbus_a321]

why we need ezy base in ger ? all traffic could be done from uk rotation

[FliegerTiger]

Airbus_a321,

Please stop trolling.........

[sussex2]

I worked for AA on the ground for a good while.
They decided to reduced flights into BRU and make staff redundant. What they could not understand was that the staff to be made redundant were overjoyed with the news.
Belgian regs of the time protected them very well indeed; something along the lines of redundancy pay, full pay thereafter for a good while, and everyone else would go on strike.
If you employ people, then they are not a commodity, not something to be dispensed with and taken lightly, and IMHO that is the way it should be. The term 'human resources' still wrankles with me.
Quite a few companies would do well to learn this lesson.
There's a very long thread on here about BA cabin crew, but the unhappiness felt, and justly so, by a lot of that companys employees, is also equally felt elsewhere, to the same degree if not more so.
You can only push people so far, and the price people want to pay for a product is not the be all and end all.

[Ivor Fynn]

Respect to the boys and girls in SXF - :D:D:D

Ivor

[heebeegb]

Utter respect. Autobrake 3 - go away.

[Microburst2002]

I wish that this damned nonsense european union collapses once and for all.

Let's begin with Greece and Spain, and then all the others. Things would become better for all of us. Not for the big fishes, of course.

What a relief it would be! The end of the euro, the end of Schengen, the end of EU OPS, and most important, the end of JAR FCL, or is it EU FCL yet?

We would again know who is the enemy, and where it is. Now we can be fu*ked from any side, and can't do a damn thing to prevent it.

Please God, protect us from the politicians who steal our money and rights in the name of Europe.

[Ptimat31]

Well, you're still free to leave Europe if you don't like it. :confused:


It's true that it was so much better in the 20's...
I'm not saying it's a perfect place but the point was to build a conflict free zone, a big change from our history.

Good luck EZY guys !

[sej]

You most be the one with the big picture. Not

[Teddy Robinson]

yes .. good luck.

Perhaps a change in the industry will start with this one small battle.

[stiglet]

I'm with Autobrake 3.

90% of the guys I fly with are not as confrontational about this situation as the majority of vocal posters on this forum are. That's not to say we don't want it resolved. But how we go about it is; threatening the status of the company and screwing your colleagues cannot surley be the correct way?

Jealously; I don't think so. For years we've accepted the status quo. Accepting with good grace the SXF crew good fortune. Now we get shafted with all the cleaning up they leave behind.

Stansdead - Captains decision whether to accept discretion; ABSOLUTELY.
But why you refuse is a professional decision taking into account many factors and should not be based on a grievance with the company.

[flap15]

Alas a lot of pilots do not understand the situation. I spent a few days in Berlin and thought I was up to speed until I arrived. We need to give them our support for this will be the thin end of a wedge. On returning to the UK I asked several fellow pilots what they new about the "Berlin Situation" and got a lot of very blank looks. Head in sand mode alas.

[one post only!]

I understand autobrakes feelings, it can seem a bit petulant to be moaning about 10 mins discretion because the very good deal you are on is coming to an end but the problem is that there is a lot more to it than just that. Its not that cut and dry.

I therefore agree there needs to be more information put out about the berlin situation. I would like to see this come from BALPA.

Whether or not you think they have been over paid in the past if we allow poor contracts into Berlin it will affect all of us eventually be it for upgrades or next time there is a base "redeployment"!!

I for one support what they are doing and will put up with any disruption it causes (I reserve the right to moan about said disruption though!!) as in my opinion their actions will benefit all of us in the long run!

[Bokkenrijder]

On returning to the UK I asked several fellow pilots what they knew about the "Berlin Situation" and got a lot of very blank looks. Head in sand mode alas.Yes, very typical of the UK and of people like Autobrake 3... They only think short term and look at their own wallet. Then, when they see someone making more money they get jealous and start moaning, instead of helping each other build a decent future. I guess it's these kind of people who have the loudest mouths about "working together" during the annual CRM refresher in LTN... ;)

Let's get real, the dubious tax situation benefited many, including the company by being able to get their foot in the door by undercutting (social dumping) German airlines and saving lot's of money on social security, pensions etc. Thanks to this (unfair?) competitive advantage, Easy has grabbed a LOT of market share out of Berlin and left the crew to fend for themselves with regards to taxes, NI and pensions.

As it appears, the German authorities finally have had enough of it, and are now forcing Easy to come up with local contracts, so it really surprises me to see fellow pilots get all jealous about it and almost wish a bad deal upon their SXF colleagues. These poor folks must have a very lonely sex life...

What we are witnessing now is finally a leveling of the playing field, something that has previously happened in Orly, Madrid and Milan. This leveling of the paying field (local contracts) will finally give the crew in SXF a chance to build a life, instead of living paycheck to paycheck being unsure of how the tax situation will develop.

I sincerely wish my ex-colleagues in SXF all the best in getting a good deal and flipping good ol' Cor (is he still around?) the finger! Go go go go! :ok:

p.s. Yes I know what I'm talking about: I've been based in SXF. :)

[crosswindaviator]

imho I also think autobrake is wrong...
the better the deal for any pilot in any airline is, the better it will get for all the rest as well in the long run...

T&c's endlessly become worse in a downward spiral and all we pilots do is moan en moan en moan...

I know I'm one of them, but I do think most of us are soft pussies when it comes to standing up for our T&C's :(

And about the discretion, nobody should constantly deny discretion, as it should be there to help your company...

BUT :=

What if rostered flight daily are planned minutes from discretion, how often will you accept? once, 25%, 100% ???

I think over the last years most of us accepted allmost all the time,
but if you look around now, industrie wide, everyone is tired, everyone is fatigued and again, everyone is moaning....

things need to change... :ok:

[Tediek]

I fail to understand why people want this... unions and work councils are B.S. They cost a lot of time, cost a lot of money and make things more difficult. If you do not like what you do, your pay is, hours work etc. leave and go somewhere else. Its sad that people need this crap to have their work environment improve.... you don't have to work there, you can, and look around you. Most airlines with this are almost belly up as they want more money all the time whilst there isn't any. think!!!!

[crosswindaviator]

in the case of easy, i don't think they are going belly up soon...
they apparently have 3 billion in cash, and still chipping away at T&C's :=

[Doug the Head]

Most airlines with this are almost belly up as they want more money all the time whilst there isn't any. think!!!!Typical of the spineless: always finding something or someone to hide behind! I'm totally amazed how some companies always seem to have a radar for detecting and hiring these traumatized people who perhaps once got laid off or lost their job due to bankruptcy. These folks bend over backwards to 'protect' their job, but whilst doing so they destroy that very job they're so desperately protecting. ;)

Let's see here: 1 scared pilot corps + 1 weak union + 1 greedy management = poor T&C's and a company sitting on a pile of cash!

Go on folks, be scared, be really scared! :ok:

[ZBMAN]

they apparently have 3 billion in cash, and still chipping away at T&C's

not quite:

http://2009annualreport.easyjet.com/files/pdf/CashFlowStatement.pdf

just under 800 million.

[flyer47]

autobrake 3. Admit it, your real name is Cor !