Threat of strike at Ryanair in Belgium: “This risks spreading to all of Europe”
The cup is full again among Ryanair’s flight attendants in Belgium.” Three years after having finally accepted by agreement to respect Belgian legislation, Ryanair continues to flout the rights of its workers, explains the CNE and its Flemish counterpart in a press release. “After using all means of negotiation”, the unions have thus filed an indefinite strike notice as of Monday. What jeopardize the spring holidays of many Belgian travelers? “No there should not be a strike in the next fortnight”reassures Didier Lebbe, the permanent CNE.
France too
On the other hand, it is necessary to expect a lot of disturbances during the great summer period. “We plan to take joint action with our French colleagues who have also filed a strike noticeannounces the union leader. The risk of the movement spreading across all of Europe. The staff are really fed up: the management of Ryanair must absolutely change its behavior. If the management does not change its tune, the cabin workers based in Belgium will stop work very soon, probably accompanied by other European colleagues.”
Trip for a can of soda
The Belgian trade unions point to different “a bus” of the Irish company. Recently, hostesses and stewards would have to pay 81 euros for their annual medical examination, which is compulsory for the practice of the profession. “They did not have the possibility of being reimbursed by the mutual insurance company.gets angry Didier Lebbe.
Other sorrows: training days are represented as unpaid leave, and flight attendants are still forced to pay three euros for a bottle of water to be able to hydrate themselves on planes. “A hostess was fired in France for taking a can of soda without paying“, indignantly the trade unionist.
Sanctions would also be systematic when an employee is sick more than three times a year. “There is also real discrimination against staff representatives. Some of them were thus threatened with paying 100,000 euros if they attended a union meeting. Management is constantly looking for loopholes in social legislation rather than wanting to start a real dialogue with the unions.”
No Belgian HRD
The CNE also points to a “great failure” in the absence of a human resources manager. “It is up to the social inspectorate of Charleroi and the trade union delegation to play this role”, denounces the representative. In 2018, the unions had however obtained from the management of Ryanair the establishment “a Belgian human resources manager, who knows the Belgian laws“. This one has indeed been hired but is no longer in office today.
Therefore, “Each month, irregularities are committed concerning remuneration, and repeated erroneous information put workers in serious difficulty, in particular with regard to their mutuality and their economic unemployment linked to the Covid-19 crisis”.
The pilots also on strike?
According to the unions, Ryanair would also have “enjoy” of the crisis to put pressure on its workers “via an abusive use of the Renault law“.”We forced the pership’s crew to accept wages below the legal minimum.”
Now that activities are resuming, the company is “would hide” behind the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices to ask its staff to do “some efforts”. “As if this one did not suffer from this increase. It is not up to the workers, who have already suffered a great deal, to pay for the various crises…”, affirms the CNE.
Finally, note that on the side of the pilots, strike movements are not to be excluded either. “Negotiations are underway but there is a good chance that social peace will also break down”concluded Didier Lebbe.
Contacted by The FreeRyanair management did not react.