A captain and co-pilot in the cockpit of Finnair’s Airbus A350 bound from Hong Kong to Helsinki in July 2018. The Finnish Airline Pilots’ Association (SLL) has rejected already the third proposal to settle its months-long dispute over terms and conditions of employment with the state-owned airline. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)
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THE FINNISH Airline Pilots’ Association (SLL) has rejected already the third proposal to resolve a long-running dispute over the terms and conditions of employment of pilots employed by Finnair.
Vesa Uuspelto, the chairperson of SLL, on Tuesday stated that the latest proposal was a disappointing step back from the previous ones, dropping previously proposed improvements to earnings and pension plans while continuing efficiency measures that benefit the majority state-owned airline.
“The proposal as a whole was not as balanced as previously. The national conciliator appears to only accept amendments drawn up the employer into its proposals, a fact that fails to even start to take into consideration the needs of both sides,” he lamented in a press release.
“We remain far apart, but the employer side seems to focus not on negotiating but on prolonging the labour dispute.”
SLL also stated that the proposal would have reduced the number of off days for pilots who fly between time zones and, in general, demonstrated an unwillingness to compensate pilots for the near complete lack of pay rises in recent years.
Service Sector Employers (Palta), which represents Finnair, would have accepted the proposal.
Heini Wiik-Blåfield, the head of collective bargaining at Palta, said the demands of pilots remain “completely overblown” in terms of their cost impacts and, as such, impossible for the employer to accept without balancing elements.
Palta said SLL has announced it will ramp up its industrial actions by ordering its members to adhere to published shift scheduled and refuse all shift swaps.
The previous collective bargaining agreement expired in early October, 2024.
Finnair is set to launch consultative negotiations with its pilots today to discuss the need to reduce personnel in the event that the continuing industrial actions lead to changes in its co-operation agreement on routes from Bangkok, Thailand, and Singapore to Sydney, Australia.The majority state-owned airline estimated last week that it might have to reduce or furlough as many as 90 pilots.
SLL has expressed serious reservations about the need to launch the negotiations. On Tuesday, however, it reported that as a gesture of goodwill it will suspend industrial actions on flights to Sydney.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
