Ryanair employees in Belgium, flight attendants and flight attendants are threatening action over the holiday season if the Irish low-cost carrier continues to break the law with no one doing anything.
Ryanair employees in Belgium, flight attendants, flight attendants and pilots are threatening action during the holiday season if the Irish low-cost carrier continues to break the law without anyone doing anything, ACV Puls and CNE warned Monday. The two Christian unions wrote an open letter to this effect to Ministers of Labor Pierre-Yves Derman and Judge Vincent Van Quickenborn.
“Since moving to Belgium, Ryanair has continued to break laws,” ACV Puls Permanent Secretary Hans Elsen denounced. He indicated that things may have improved in 2018 after the first strikes of the workers, and this without any help from the public authorities. However, the low-cost company continues to disrespect Belgian labor law “without anyone doing anything,” the union official notes with disappointment. If the Social Inspection Services and the National Office of Social Security try to do their job by noting the violations, the deportation will not be taken up by the judicial authorities, criticizes, for his part, Didier Lippi, of the CNE, for whom this is “totally incomprehensible”.
“The Charleroi business auditor, who is focused on the Ryanair file, said over the summer that he would move at the beginning of the school year … but we still don’t see anything coming,” laments the French-speaking permanent secretary. Last spring, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborn announced that the attorney general would launch a public proceeding against Ryanair in September, which the Independent National Commission said, at the end of the summer, it hoped would be able to cooperate. Didier Lippi says he feels “more and more alone” in his battle and is asking the authorities for help.
“Ryanair employees are not pawns”
“When there is no talk of a strike in the media and the attention subsides, you don’t hear them anymore,” he says. “Recently, Ryanair decided – according to it – temporarily to close the base in Brussels: the workers of the base were offered to work in Charleroi. But then, Ryanair changed its mind and decided to make them work in blocks for a few days in other European bases. This is completely illegal ” , as the Permanent Secretary of the Christian Union explains. This decision affected nearly 80 jobs, including 44 flight attendants and flight attendants and 17 pilots. However, the company continues to serve Brussels Airport with aircraft and personnel not located there. It is not yet known if the Irish carrier will reopen its base in Zaventem for the summer season. Ryanair group chief Michael O’Leary warned in September that this would only happen if Brussels Airport reduced the amount of airport taxes, which it did not. So Didier Lippi doesn’t believe in him too much. “The monopoly played by the company must stop. Ryanair employees are not pawns,” he insists, pointing out that some of them are young parents who find it difficult to go to work somewhere other than the Belgian base (Zavventem or Charleroi).
The threat of social conflicts during the holidays
CNE and ACV Puls are therefore appealing to the two federal ministers to exercise their authority to put an end to this. When asked, the Office of the Minister of Justice notes that files have been opened and investigations conducted, and he points to Hainaut’s labor auditor. Same story in a colleague’s office from the recruiter. “All cases relating to Ryanair are brought to justice under the leadership of the Labor Auditor. (…) Our inspection services do a great deal of work to aid justice and we can believe that this work will pay off quickly in the interest of all affected workers, ”communicates Cabinet Minister Pierre Yves Dorman.
“The end of the year celebrations are approaching, and if nothing is done on the part of Ryanair or the Belgian authorities, there is a good chance that employees will express their anger on this occasion via social movements,” warn the two unions, which may then not guarantee social peace within the company. However, any action will be announced at least a week in advance, Didier Lippi asserts, such as the strikes of personnel stationed in Belgium, of pilots as stewards and flight attendants, which occurred at the beginning of the summer.
It was organized at the end of June and the beginning of July to denounce the stall in negotiations over a new collective labor agreement (CCT) for cabin crew. The discussions were then in limbo for several weeks because the carrier’s proposals did not comply with Belgian labor law. Those negotiations are currently still stalled, as Ryanair refuses to pay the statutory minimum wage, according to CNE. There are currently no scheduled meetings between cabin crew and Ryanair management to address these issues, with the exception of monthly meetings of the Labor Council and the Committee on Protection and Prevention at Work (CPPT). On the part of the pilots, the unions are waiting for a response from the company.
Ryanair employees in Belgium, flight attendants, flight attendants and pilots are threatening action during the holiday season if the Irish low-cost carrier continues to break the law without anyone doing anything, ACV Puls and CNE warned Monday. The two Christian unions wrote an open letter to this effect to Ministers of Labor Pierre-Yves Derman and Judge Vincent Van Quickenborn. “Since moving to Belgium, Ryanair has continued to break laws,” Hans Elsen, permanent secretary of Apple Cider Vinegar Pulse, denounced. He indicated that things may have improved in 2018 after the first strikes of the workers, and this without any help from the public authorities. However, the low-cost company continues to disrespect Belgian labor law “without anyone doing anything,” the union official notes with disappointment. If the Social Inspection Services and the National Office of Social Security try to do their job by noting the violations, the deportation will not be taken up by the judicial authorities, criticizes, for his part, Didier Lippi, of the CNE, for whom this is “totally incomprehensible”. “The Charleroi business auditor, who is focused on the Ryanair file, said over the summer that he would move at the beginning of the school year … but we still don’t see anything coming,” laments the French-speaking permanent secretary. Last spring, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborn announced that the attorney general would launch a public proceeding against Ryanair in September, which the Independent National Commission said, at the end of the summer, it hoped would be able to cooperate. Didier Lippi says he feels “more and more alone” in his battle and is asking the authorities for help. “When there is no talk of a strike in the media and the attention subsides, you don’t hear them anymore,” he says. “Recently, Ryanair decided – according to it – temporarily to close the base in Brussels: the workers of the base were offered to work in Charleroi. But then, Ryanair changed its mind and decided to make them work in blocks for a few days in other European bases. This is completely illegal ” , as the Permanent Secretary of the Christian Union explains. This decision affected nearly 80 jobs, including 44 flight attendants and flight attendants and 17 pilots. However, the company continues to serve Brussels Airport with aircraft and personnel not located there. It is not yet known if the Irish carrier will reopen its base in Zaventem for the summer season. Ryanair group chief Michael O’Leary warned in September that this would only happen if Brussels Airport reduced the amount of airport taxes, which it did not. So Didier Lippi doesn’t believe in him too much. “The monopoly played by the company must stop. Ryanair employees are not pawns,” he insists, pointing out that some of them are young parents who find it difficult to go to work somewhere other than the Belgian base (Zavventem or Charleroi). CNE and ACV Puls are therefore appealing to the two federal ministers to exercise their authority to put an end to this. When asked, the Office of the Minister of Justice notes that files have been opened and investigations conducted, and he points to Hainaut’s labor auditor. Same story in a colleague’s office from the recruiter. “All cases relating to Ryanair are brought to justice under the leadership of the Labor Auditor. (…) Our inspection services do a great deal of work to aid justice and we can believe that this work will pay off quickly in the interest of all affected workers, ”communicates Cabinet Minister Pierre Yves Dorman. “The end of the year celebrations are approaching, and if nothing is done on the part of Ryanair or the Belgian authorities, there is a good chance that employees will express their anger on this occasion via social movements,” warn the two unions, which may then not guarantee social peace within the company. However, any action will be announced at least a week in advance, Didier Lippi assures, such as the strikes of personnel stationed in Belgium, of pilots as stewards and flight attendants, which occurred at the beginning of the summer. It was organized at the end of June and the beginning of July to denounce the stall in negotiations over a new collective labor agreement (CCT) for cabin crew. The discussions were then in limbo for several weeks because the carrier’s proposals did not comply with Belgian labor law. Those negotiations are currently still stalled, as Ryanair refuses to pay the statutory minimum wage, according to CNE. There are currently no scheduled meetings between cabin crew and Ryanair management to address these issues, with the exception of monthly meetings of the Labor Council and the Committee on Protection and Prevention at Work (CPPT). On the part of the pilots, the unions are waiting for a response from the company.