2018 was another labor-intensive year, peaking in the start of the negotiations for a better CWA at Cargolux. Even though we all are aware that these negotiations will continue to last well into the next year and are not finished yet, the entire Divisional Board would like to express our gratitude for your shown loyalty and continuous support in 2018! We wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Please find below an update in regard to:
- SwissLife
- Cargolux Italia
- Back-to-Back operation
SwissLife
Finally, all contributions to the Supplementary Pension Scheme are visible via the new SwissLife online portal. Your username and passwords were sent by SwissLife to your Cargolux email address already in late July 2018.
We would like to remind everybody of the fact that the company contributions for the year 2018 are invested in the SwissLife Guarantee fund and NOT in the previously selected fund(s). If you want to change the fund you can do this online via the new SwissLife online portal. Switching funds is free of charge.
Please ensure all the information is correct on the portal. You may need to update your selected beneficiaries that can be done online.
A meeting with Cargolux management, SwissLife and the ALPL is envisaged for the beginning of next year to align the new format with our existing conditions as was discussed in the Comite Mixte meeting this year.
Cargolux Italia
To address rumours we received about a fleet expansion at Cargolux Italia (ICV), management was asked during the recent Comite Mixte meeting if there are indeed any plans to replace and/or add an aircraft in Cargolux Italia.
Management stated there are no definitive plans at this moment but depending on the market there might be a need for Cargolux to do so.
The existence of 4 airplanes in Cargolux Italia was again justified with alleged lower operating costs and that certain market access can only be achieved with Italian traffic rights. As we proved in the past both arguments are wrong and do not get any more credibility if they are repeated over and over again. Cargolux Italia is -once again- used to undermine our working conditions in Luxembourg.
The employee representatives noted that such routes are already and could be even additionally flown by Cargolux on a wet lease basis. The response from management was, that Cargolux is being used due to the lack of 747-8 in Cargolux Italia.
We will keep a close eye on this topic, while the unions claim to reduce the number of aircraft in Italy still remains in place.
Back-to-Back operation
A requirement to derogate from home base rest according to CS FTL.1.235(b)(3)(ii), also referred to as “Back-to-Back operation” (B2B), is that suitable accommodation must be provided by the company. Recently, pilots found themselves in a situation where the usual crew hotel was not reserved and only after a lengthy time the IBIS hotel was used. Furthermore, it was only booked for an insufficient time and does not represent a crew rest hotel approved by the Hotel Committee.
We want to reiterate once again:
- Crew hotels must fulfil the criteria as mentioned in the hotel policy. Please click here to have a look at the Cargolux hotel policy. Any discrepancies should be reported by Voyage Report via the iQSMS application and a copy send to cvhotels@alpl.lu for further investigation by the Hotel Committee.
- If the rest is disturbed and/or insufficient in such a way that you feel unable to sufficiently perform your next duty, a Fatigue Report should be filed via the iQSMS application and additional rest should be requested with crew control.
- In order to utilize the B2B option (which should be the exemption rather than the norm) it is a required prerequisite that a suitable accommodation is booked by the company. If crew control fails to do so, we recommend that any pilot carefully evaluates if the conditions for a derogation from home base rest are still given and if sufficient rest can be obtained before the next sector. If in doubt there is always the option to request the complete rest for time-zone compensation as per regulation.
