brussels airport
A spontaneous strike broke out at the baggage handler Aviapartner at Brussels Airport on Monday morning, Brussels Airport reports. The airport warns of disrupted baggage handling and possible delayed flights.
A large number of Aviapartner’s baggage handlers at Brussels Airport stopped work on Monday morning. Tensions within the company – which handles just over half of the flights at Zaventem – have been rising for some time, because no agreement could be reached on a new basic collective labor agreement. After an explanation by the socialist union on Monday morning, a large part of the staff remained indoors. It is expected that a large part of the afternoon shift will also not work. As a result, travelers may have to wait for their luggage, says a spokesperson for Brussels Airport.
According to Sandra Langenus of the socialist BTB, a strike notice was already submitted on February 6. “But since then the management still had not made any approach,” she says. “And in the meantime, it continues to spin squarely on the tarmac.” Langenus speaks, among other things, about problems with unsafe and poorly functioning equipment, which is regularly unusable, causing teams to be in need. “In addition, many temporary workers remain insecure because they cannot get a permanent contract,” says Langenus. “However, they have received training and can help alleviate the high workload – which has persisted since Covid and the bankruptcy of competitor Swissport.”
Understaffed
The socialist union says that its supporters fear that the workload will increase even further if the management does not change the collective labor agreement. “Currently an aircraft is handled by teams of five people,” says Langenus. “The management wants to reduce this to four, which will receive additional mechanical support. But in practice, the teams are often understaffed. What’s next? Plowing with three or two people?” BTB therefore requests that a risk analysis of the proposed system is first made.
The question now is whether the afternoon team will resume work soon. If not, the handling of the aircraft will remain disrupted until at least tomorrow morning. The Christian trade union ACV does not support the action, and the people with a temporary contract are also still working.
It is not the first time that baggage handlers have gone on strike. Last year, Aviapartner’s staff also spontaneously stopped work at the end of February due to the high workload. After competitor Swissport collapsed, the company of Laurent Levaux from Liège was saved by the government in the midst of the corona crisis. The licenses for handling in Zaventem will be renewed at the end of this year.
