On Wednesday evening, the House will be debating the conditions that must apply to the guarantees given by the government. In addition to flying more sustainably and reducing the number of night flights, The Hague also requires KLM to reduce its workforce and take other austerity measures.
Unions FNV, VNC, NVLT, VNV, De Unie, VKP and CNV are calling on the government to leave room for the social partners to take measures together with KLM to guide the airline through the corona crisis.
“Drop the dictated cutback scale and assess the end result,” the unions write in a joint letter. “All employees want to help KLM through the corona crisis together and honestly. The loans from the government and banks help with this. And that is also highly appreciated by all employees. That is beyond dispute. But the responses from unions and works councils at KLM show that the precise, dictated scale for personnel cost reduction will lead to a mess within KLM. No union now envisions how the graduated scale can be met in combination with meaningful agreements about reorganization.
According to the unions, the scale included in the conditions is a simplification of a more complex reality. Various unions see various ways in which their domain can make a meaningful contribution to KLM’s recovery. “The unions are at the beginning of a reorganization process. An interpretation is now being dictated in advance, many of whom wonder whether it can ever be agreed upon and to which no union is now bound. Consider before you start, and do not impose an interpretation, but assess the outcome afterwards. Especially to help KLM.
Many pilots, cabin crew, technicians and other employees are in danger of disappearing. While KLM must pull out all the stops to continue in a slimmed-down form, environmental clubs and left-wing parties act against support for the ‘polluting’ aviation sector, on which tens of thousands of Dutch jobs depend.
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