Various European unions representing Ryanair flight attendants have called for the “largest strike in history” of the Irish low-cost airline after their meeting in Brussels. They decided to do it on September 28. Organizations also threaten to shut down on a monthly basis until they are heard.
The movement is expected to affect Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Other countries, such as Germany, could still join the movement. The CNE, which calls on Belgian pilots to join it, estimates that 80% of flights in Charleroi should be affected on that day and almost all flights in Zaventem. This represents a total of about 150 flights.
The European trade unions think that nothing has changed within the company in recent months, despite the strikes this summer. They also consider that the working conditions denounced have remained the same : they want the application of the various national labour laws instead of the only Irish one.
Didier Lebbe, permanent secretary of the Belgian Christian trade union, warns that sporadic actions, country by country, could also be organised in the coming weeks. Whether on the part of the unions meeting in Brussels, others of their counterparts or pilot associations, as happened on Wednesday in Germany.
Ryanair’s employee representatives therefore call on the company’s shareholders, who are due to meet on September 20 in a general meeting, to “assume their responsibilities” and make changes, inter alia in attitudes and the way the company is run.
