On 06 June 2022, the LCGB asked our members to be 100% compliant with the CWA and to withdraw the good will and flexibility until today, 26 July 2022.
We would like to thank all of you for your tremendous participation, support and loyalty, which is a strong sign of unity amongst the Cargolux pilot community. We are confident that with your help the message to management – THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER – was well delivered and received. We also had the opportunity to talk to management and to explain in detail the reasons why the campaign was launched.
Contrary to the original assumption that it was only about the HKG layovers, it was rather the negative developments in the work-life balance that developed in the last two years. The resumption of the layovers with in-room confinement in HKG was just the final straw.
Since the start of the Covid pandemic the pilot community carried an over proportional burden and risk. While the Unions tried to maintain a constructive dialogue to support management in its effort for business continuation, this cooperation however was never acknowledged nor rewarded. On the contrary, the shown flexibility and dedication by the pilots to go the so-called extra mile was taken for granted.
In addition, to maximize profits, we were unilaterally confronted with the introduction of a new rostering tool that was supposed to improve efficiency and productivity with the consequence of now being unable to plan our private lives anymore. Furthermore, we have seen violations of the CWA regarding crew hotels, compensation of late arrival at home base before a vacation period and the elimination of off days in case of late arrival after being sick or quarantined on a rotation.
“Business continuation” and “sustainability” are terms that are not only applicable to money, but also to the pilots as human beings.
In summary we would like to mention that we are proud and thankful to be backed up and supported by you, our members, when representing your interests! We will see, whether management really listened to us or if they continue to ignore the concerns of the pilot community.
Although the campaign turned out to be very effective and clearly showed to which extend management relies on the pilots´ flexibility and good will, not everything ran smoothly and not every member followed our guidelines and withdrew flexibility.
Having said this, we would like to mention that we are prepared to repeat the campaign anytime again, should it become necessary, e.g. during the negotiations. If so, we sincerely hope that all our members will support it.
Stay united and be ready for the negotiations!
