Brussels Airlines pilots will now be striking after all: from next Wednesday until the following Saturday, the start of the Flemish Easter holidays. The negotiations, which were still proceeding in a positive atmosphere on Tuesday, broke down on Wednesday the socialist trade union BBTK announced.
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Brussels Airlines pilots to strike from next Wednesday till the start of the Easter holidays
Colin Clapson
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On Tuesday, negotiations between pilots and Brussels Airlines management still seemed to be on the right track. The unions even called off their plans to strike from 23 to 27 March because they had made sufficient progress at the negotiating table.
Talks with a view to reaching an agreement continued Wednesday, but at the end of the day further talks were called off, Olivier Van Camp of the socialist union explained.
"We gave the management a last chance to come up with a good proposal but they set additional conditions that were not acceptable to the pilots. Now the matter is settled and there will be a four-day strike".
Easter holiday get-away in jeopardy
The Belgian flag carrier's pilots are on strike from Wednesday 27 to Saturday 30 March. People who wanted to fly Brussels Airlines at the start of the Easter holidays face disruption.
"We really wanted to avoid striking at the start of the Easter holidays," says union official Van Camp. "That's why we initially wanted to strike next weekend."
However, due to the stalled negotiations, the unions feel they are now forced to call a strike at the start of the Easter holidays. Van Camp says that the announcement will still allow affected passengers to take their precautions and possibly claim compensation from Brussels Airlines.
Brussels Airlines has already announced that a working group will meet to assess the disruption and inform passengers as soon as possible. "Our teams will do everything possible to get passengers to their final destination as soon as possible. We sincerely apologise to everyone affected by the strike," the company says.
No full wage restoration
Brussels Airlines was in profit once again last year for the first time in many years and even posted record profits. The employees say they also want to benefit from this, especially following wage cuts during the pandemic.
According to trade unionist Olivier Van Camp, management wanted higher wages partly to be compensated by fewer rest days for pilots at the weekend. That was unacceptable to the unions. "On an annual basis, pilots would have to fly an additional 14 days if they wanted to return to pre-covid salaries," he explained.