SAS announces lockout at Arlanda if pilots go on strike – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
The mediation deadline in the conflict between SAS and the pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark is midnight, night to 29 June.
That means there could be a strike starting Wednesday next week.
Around 900 SAS pilots from Norway, Sweden and Denmark can go on strike.
Now it is threatened locked out back.
In the event of a lockout, the employer and similar press agents use it as a strike to get the employees out of work.
SAS announces lockout at Arlanda
The Swedish pilots’ union has announced a strike at SAS’s base at Arlanda from June 29, if no agreement is reached.
SAS has responded by notifying all members of the Swedish Pilot Association, SPF, at SAS’s base at Arlanda of a so-called mirror lockout from the same date. It shows a letter from SAS to The Mediation Institute which NRK has access to.
SAS justifies the lockout notice with the Swedish Pilot Association has terminated collective agreements with SAS and announced a total strike. They further write that SAS’s notice of lockout must be seen in light of SPF’s strong notice of strike.
The intention of the lockout is to get the other party to end its battle and limit the damage to SAS in the event of a conflict, it is further stated in the notice from SAS.
The lockout at Arlanda in Sweden applies from 00.01 on 29 June.
When asked if SAS will also announce a lockout in Norway and Denmark, Tonje Sund, press manager at SAS, answers:
– In Sweden, it is quite common for the employer to make a so-called mirror lockout, in situations where notice of resignation has been given. These are different rules and processes in the different countries, and we will return to what is next written in Norway and Denmark, respectively.
Based on what NRK knows, it must also have been broadcast with notice of lockout from SAS in Denmark.
Danger of redundancies in Norway
In Norway, it has been sent out on conditional permit notice to all SAS employees. As far as NRK knows, the airline warns that all of the employees in Norway can be allowed.
In the event of a strike, the company will make specific assessments of any permits, in line with the effects a possible strike will have, press manager at SAS, Tonje Sund, in an e-mail to NRK.
She adds that it is normal procedure that employees who due to a strike can not be properly employed, will be allowed as a consequence of a possible strike.
If a strike becomes a reality from Wednesday 29 June, Sund recommends that the customer check the status of their flight via their app or website.
Not all SAS aircraft may be affected by a strike
The first possible day of strike is fast approaching. Many people wonder what will happen if it becomes a reality.
It is the parent company in Scandinavia – SAS which is primarily affected by the strike. The subsidiaries SAS Connect and SAS Link are covered by another union. Namely the Danish trade union Flyvebranchens Personale Union, FPU.
Thus, it may be that some air traffic at SAS runs as normal despite the strike.
The mediator in Norway goes to Stockholm
The Norwegian National Broker Mads Ruland and broker Richard Saue will travel to Stockholm. They must participate in mediations in the last three days before the deadline expires, it is stated from the national mediator’s office.
In the mediation, the requirement for a wage increase in line with the labor market applies from the pilots’ associations, based on what NRK experiences. This also applies to working time rules.
The core of the dispute
The core of the conflict with the pilots is created by staffing companies. Around 560 pilots lost their jobs during the pandemic. At the same time, the subsidiary SAS Link and SAS Connect were established. These must take over aircraft and be filled with new pilots on other terms and the SAS employee has.
The SAS pilots have sued the company in labor law. They believe the company is trying to circumvent its obligations to bring the terminated pilots back. SAS rejects this and believes that the company relates to all agreements entered into.
A pilot strike will put the entire airline’s future at stake, SAS replied when the strike warning was announced last week.
The four pilot associations in Norway, Sweden and Denmark negotiate together as SAS Pilot Group, SPG.
The mediations started in Stockholm last Monday, after the SAS pilots delivered a notice of termination on Thursday 9 June and warned of the danger of a strike from 29 June.
The pilot association has said they intend to take out around 900 members on strike in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, if the mediation does not succeed.
In Norway, the Norwegian Pilots’ Association has today delivered a resignation for 254 pilots, while Parat has announced a resignation for 148 pilots. Thus, all of these can be taken out on strike from day one if no agreement is reached.
On the same day as the resignation was delivered to Jan Levi Skogvang, the leader of the association SAS Norge Flygerforening to NRK:
– We try to achieve that the work that we have, including those laid off who are put on the street, are jobs that belong to us. That they are not left to other staffing companies as SAS does today.
The finances of SAS are under a lot of pressure, and the company has launched a comprehensive savings plan. In addition, they will restructure the debt and raise more money from the owners in hopes of saving the airline.
Earlier this week announced flymph mechanics in SAS organized under Dansk Metal a sympathy strike for the pilots. It will be launched on July 5 in the event of a pilot strike.