There are direct talks between the parties to the SAS conflict on Friday. If they do not resolve the conflict by midnight, there could be a major strike.
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The Norwegian national broker Mats Wilhelm Ruland confirms to VG that there are direct talks between the parties in the strike also on Friday.
When the Swedish brokers announced yesterday that they had taken a step back, so that the parties could talk directly, it was seen as a step forward for the negotiations. Asked by TV2 if the parties have approached each other, the national mediator also replies that they have.
– Do you think you can avoid a strike?
– I do not know yet. We will try everything we can in the last hours to solve this. And we have not given up even though it is difficult, the national broker says TV2.
At least 141 flights can be canceled this weekend if the SAS pilots go on strike on Saturday. And it can get worse if the strike lasts a long time.
Willing to bankrupt SAS
– It is positive that you can talk directly, said the Swedish broker Jan Sjölin to the news agency TT on Thursday.
The negotiations between the company and the pilot associations take place in Stockholm, with both Swedish and Norwegian brokers present.
– We brokers try to get the parties to agree on the twisted questions. If we perceive that they can handle the discussion better themselves, then we encourage the parties to do so and to sit down to try to reach an agreement, he said on Thursday.
But at the same time, a union leader for the pilots was out on Thursday night and said that they are willing to bankrupt SAS – that it is about a fundamental struggle for fundamental rights.
Dispute over restructuring
The core of the conflict with the pilots is the creation of two staffing companies. When the pandemic hit, around 560 pilots lost their jobs. At the same time, the subsidiaries SAS Link and SAS Connect were established. These will take over aircraft and be filled with new pilots.
The SAS pilots say the company is trying to circumvent its obligations to bring the dismissed pilots back. SAS rejects this and believes that the company relates to all agreements entered into.
Around 900 pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark are ready to stop work. It is estimated that a strike could affect around 250 departures and 45,000 passengers daily, according to TT.
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