Image: APA/ROBERT JAEGER
The crew on board will hold a staff meeting in the morning. The airline canceled 102 flights in advance. Affected passengers have already been informed and rebooked, the airline told APA. This mainly affects flights on short and medium-haul routes. One long-haul flight to New York, Chicago and Montreal is canceled.
The AUA regretted that adjustments to the flight plan were necessary. “Every effort is being made by the company to keep the effects as low as possible,” said a spokeswoman for the APA. The works meeting begins at 9:00 a.m., the end is open. A vida spokeswoman said the duration of the works meeting depended on the information needs of the workforce. “We have an obligation to provide information and will therefore inform the colleagues on the flight crew as best we can about the current status of the KV talks.”
Because of the high inflation, the crew on board is demanding an amendment to the collective agreement concluded in October. The AUA recently offered an average of 12.3 percent more salary. The union declined to comment on the offer. According to a broadcast, Günther Ofner, Vienna Airport board member and chairman of the aviation professional group in the Chamber of Commerce, shows little understanding for the “not exactly constructive” approach of the vida union.
The reasons for the conflict
The reason for the labor dispute is the high inflation and the recent positive result of the AUA. The management board and employee representatives had agreed on a new collective agreement in October. However, the union and works council then called for the conclusion to be improved. According to AUA, ten rounds of negotiations have taken place since then, so far without agreement.
AUA is doing better financially after the corona crisis. It returned to profitability in 2022 after a good summer quarter. The government-backed loan was repaid early and the employees’ salary waiver was withdrawn in January 2023, two years earlier than planned. For 2022, everyone received a cost-of-living bonus of 3,000 euros. The variable salary components, i.e. bonuses, will be reactivated for managers.
Source: Nachrichten
