Hello bitchers about the SAS strike, take a bowl.
SAS is one of many large companies that have used the pandemic to restructure away from anything that may resemble responsibility and mutual obligations and expects the same as those who dutifully volunteered at work with their own lives and health – with a flying tubular virus- petri dish as a workplace – will now stand with a hat in hand á la Dagsen (Dagjobbformidlingen for odd jobs) and most graciously beg for predictability that extends beyond two (!) weeks. So shameful.
That Wallenberg and co are doing this is no shock, but that the state owners in Sweden and Denmark behave like a bunch of cynical private equity Gordon Gekko landslides are discouraging: This is New Public Management that turns into New Feudalism on meth and steroids on bear trip far out in the Ayn Randsonen.
“Yes, bad strategy of the pilots to keep on like that in the middle of the holiday rush”, blah blah blah to STFU: a strike is not a popularity competition, you have to strike so it is noticeable. In addition, negotiations have been ongoing since November, so this could have been averted if the group management had shown a little more respect for very basic driving rules.
“Yes, now SAS is going bankrupt thanks to this unnecessary strike”, to STFU X 2: SAS no longer exists, at least not the Scandinavian Airlines System. For now, SAS stands for Sammensurium Av Selskaper and has been reduced to a website and call center that sells tickets, a company that leases out aircraft to itself (?) And a glorified temp agency that conducts calls on extremely petty premises. This is pure financial operation, traditional industrial ownership á la Janne Carlzon who sits like a generous and socially responsible patriarch in a villa on the hillside and looks out over a cornerstone company and a society he cares about is a thing of the past, and then the employees must act accordingly .
Proposed amendment to the law: groups that do not comply with Nordic minimum requirements for seriousness, tidiness and respect for employees and their rights can look FAR for crisis packages the next time something happens. FUCK OFF.
Suggestions for those of you who applaud this crap: how about turning ALL other typical middle-class occupations into Uber and Foodora, including your own? Then you can see how much middle class – and air passengers – are left in a few years.
–sea view
The core of the conflict
Approximately 900 SAS pilots in Norway, Denmark and Sweden have been on strike since 4 July.
The core of the conflict is the creation of two staffing companies.
During the pandemic, around 560 pilots lost their jobs. They were reinstated in the company, at the same time as they are also employed in the subsidiary SAS Connect – which was established in 2017.
The SAS pilots believe that the company is trying to avoid bringing the terminated pilots back. SAS rejects this and believes that the company abides by all agreements.
Thomas Seltzer believes that SAS disclaims responsibility by establishing these new companies.
– It is only to make money, and it is very short-term, Seltzer says to VG.
SAS responds to the criticism
SAS has read the post by Thomas Seltzer, press manager Tonje Sund says they take note of his opinions.
If SAS is to be relevant for travelers also out of the pandemic, it will require a restructuring, which among other things means reducing the cost gap the company has compared with competitors, Sund writes in an e-mail to VG.
Sund further writes that SAS is fighting for survival and for several thousand to have a job to go to, with good Scandinavian conditions.
Read the entire response from the company:
Info
The entire response from SAS
We note Seltzer’s strong claims in this case, and see a need to contribute facts to balance.
SAS entered the pandemic with a 5-year profit in a row, but was – together with a global aviation industry – extremely hard hit by a travel ban. The company nevertheless took care of socially critical transport services during these years.
The pandemic was very costly, and 5,000 skilled SAS colleagues lost their jobs, on the ground and in the air.
Fortunately, we have had the opportunity to re-employ several of these and in many areas of the company – where the pilots are in a special position in the company with a 5-year re-employment right to the company they came from. Currently, 114 have been re-employed in SAS Scandinavia. Others have chosen to apply to SAS Link or SAS Connect (which was established in 2017, ie long before the pandemic).
Regardless of where they are employed in the company, these are very skilled colleagues, who do a fantastic job for SAS and the customers every single day. We strongly dissociate ourselves from rhetoric that suggests otherwise.
SAS currently has three airlines that will serve different parts of the market. It is known that the pandemic has now changed the travel habits of the population, with less business travel and more leisure travelers. It is a reality we are a part of and must adapt to.
If SAS is to be relevant for travelers also out of the pandemic, it will require a restructuring, which i.a. involves reducing the cost gap the company has compared to the competition. Everyone must contribute here! But that will not change the fact that SAS employees in Scandinavia will have Scandinavian agreements with good Scandinavian terms – as is also the case today.
SAS is now fighting for survival and for 8,000 colleagues to have a job and go to. If we are to continue to have the right to life as a leading company in Scandinavia, then we must now have the planes on our wings – both in the short and long term – with employees in Scandinavia, on good Scandinavian terms.
–sea view
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the case stated that SAS Link and SAS Connect were established during the pandemic, and that these will take over aircraft and be filled with new pilots. The right thing is that pilots who lost their jobs are reinstated in the company they came from, at the same time as they are also employed in the subsidiary SAS Connect – which was established in 2017. This was changed on 15.07.2022, at 19.17.
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