Pilots still discussing longer wage sacrifice KLM | Financial

The union states this in a statement in response to the decision by Minister Hoekstra (Finance) not to provide loans to KLM, as a result of which the airline is in danger of going under.

The pain for Hoekstra is in the duration of the agreements. The loans that Hoekstra intends to provide are concluded for five years. During that period, the minister wants the unions to adhere to a zero line.

A separate ‘commitment clause’ had to be agreed for this.

The VNV considered the agreements made with the KLM management on 1 October binding, which were made for 1.5 years. But Minister Hoekstra wants an extra signature for the effort for five years.

The union says it would like to talk to KLM and the Ministry of Finance ‘for additional agreements’. Trade union FNV will not sign until the pilots make agreements that are in line with those of the other KLM trade unions.

Great turmoil

In the pilot community and beyond, unrest has arisen about the note that the VNV board sent to the KLM management instead of signing the official clause. A group of KLM employees has started a petition, with which they want to make it politically clear that the VNV and FNV only represent a small proportion of KLM employees. “There is a large group of employees who do agree with the conditions of the support,” says initiator Frank van der Werff.

The KLM works council called on all parties involved on Saturday to take their ‘responsibility’ in order to grant the state aid. “The complex playing field in which we find ourselves as KLM contains more elements than just the terms of employment,” says Works Council director Dario Fucci, who is a pilot himself.

Government crucial

“This is a unique situation, because there is a third party, the government, who is pulling the strings,” says employment lawyer Pascal Besselink of DAS Rechtsbijstand. “The unions stand up for the interests of the employees, but at the same time a ‘no’ endangers the employment of all their KLM members. This is poker at the highest level, with very important interests. ”

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