Michael Kaiser No Comments

Members Update – April 2024

We would like to provide you with important updates on several topics:

  • Wrong application of Flight Time Limitations
  • Funeral of Markus Gerneck
  • ALPL Divisional Assembly 2024
  • Taxation of Overtime for German Residents 

Wrong Application of Flight Time Limitations
It has come to our attention that there have been isolated instances where crew control did not adhere to the Flight Time Limitations for Standard and Augmented Crew Operations. Specifically:

  • For a Flight Duty Period (FDP) scheduled with a Standard Crew (1 Captain and 1 First Officer), Article 36.6.2.2 and Table 2 of the CWA must be followed. The FDP must always be planned within the Planning Limit outlined in Table 2. The published Operational Limit for the respective start of the FDP is only applicable in case of unforeseen circumstances ( e.g., loading delays, fueling delays, ATC slot) that occur after the reporting time. This limit should not be exceeded unless using Commander’s Discretion as per Article 36.12.
  • Extensions to the maximum FDP for a Standard Crew using in-flight rest are governed by Article 36.6.4 and Tables 6 to 9. Remember, a FDP covering 3 sectors requires a Standard Flight Crew plus 1 additional Captain and 1 First Officer. 

Please report any discrepancies in the application of the CWA by crew control to us so we can act on it.

Funeral of Markus Gerneck
The funeral for Markus Gerneck is scheduled at Pfarrkirche St. Johannes in Schleich at 10:30 AM on Friday, 19th April 2024. All colleagues who wish to attend are welcome.

ALPL Divisional Assembly 2024
Due to the social election and the formation of a new Delegation at Cargolux, planning for the 2024 Divisional Assembly has been delayed. It remains a priority on our agenda, and we will communicate the date as soon as it is finalized. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

Taxation of Overtime for German Residents
Following recent changes to the double taxation agreement between Germany and Luxembourg, we consulted a tax lawyer to clarify the implications for our fellow colleagues residing in Germany. 

As by his response, the amendment affects only paragraph 1 (pertaining to normal professions) and does not alter the provisions for pilots outlined in paragraph 4. For pilots, taxation continues solely in the country of the employer’s registered office without the option for salary splitting as in other cross-border professions.

If the legislators had intended for the overtime regulations to apply to pilots as well, they would have needed to include these provisions in a subsequent paragraph of Article 14, following the existing regulations for pilots.

For a detailed explanation, please click here to read the complete response.

Dirk Becker No Comments

Result Delegation Election

We are pleased to inform you that pilots will hold 9 out of 16 seats in the Delegation. 
 
The results communicated by the electoral office are as follows:

LCGB   50,5%     9 seats
OGB-L 32,8%  5 seats
SEA 16,8%  2 seats                                      

Your elected representatives are (9 effective Delegates and 9 substitute Delegates):
On behalf of the ALPL Board I would like to take the opportunity and thank all of you participating in the election! It is however worrying to see that only 62,6 % of the pilots casted their votes this time compared to 87,3% in 2019, assuming that every pilot casted his/her 32 votes. Despite this, it is encouraging for us to see how many of you went the extra mile to make sure that your ballot will be returned in time to be counted! 
 
I would also like to thank those colleagues who stepped forward and made themselves available as candidates and at the same time a big thank you for those who have served for many years on the Delegation representing our interests, who were not reelected. They have contributed a lot to what we have achieved as a group, which was not visible to everyone, and we should be grateful for that.
 
The results of the election are not final yet, as they can be contested until April 1st, 2024.
Michael Kaiser No Comments

How to mark and return your ballot for the Delegation Election

In the coming days you should either receive your ballot for the Delegation Election by mail or you may pick up your ballot at Human Resources. It will be important, that you do whatever will be needed to make sure that you mark your ballot in time and moreover make sure that it will get back to Human Resources before the electoral office will close on March 12th. The result of the election in 2019 shows, that achieving a good result is possible, but this will require you going the extra mile.

In order to make sure, that your ballot will be received by March 12th, 16.30 LT, we ask you to strictly follow the recommendations and guidelines you have already received and the additional tailored recommendations we will provide via different channels, e.g. by postal mail sent to your home address. It will be important, that you mail back your ballot immediately after you have received it.

Important:
Regardless, if you did request to have your ballot sent to your home address or any other address, you may consider the following as of February 27th:

If you return from or leave on a rotation between 08.00 and 17.00 local time, Monday to Friday, you may go to Human Resources (map) to cast your votes there. This is possible, even if your ballot has already been sent, as your roster may have changed or could be changed in a way, which would prevent you from returning your ballot before the electoral office will close on March 12th. By doing so you can guarantee that your votes will be counted. Additionally, the ALPL Office staff is available to assist you in mailing back your ballot.

The ALPL office is available 24/7 between February 28th and March 12th, to assist you in returning your ballot. Please call the hotline at +352 42 23 30 to make sure that we can serve you, especially if you consider passing by the ALPL office outside of business hours, which are Monday to Friday 08.00 to 17.00.

Should you experience any problems please get in touch with us immediately at +352 42 23 30.

Click here for a high-resolution flyer, showing how to cast your votes correctly and how to handle your ballot. A short video clip showing the same will be published soon.

Dirk Becker No Comments

Delegation Election 2024 – Postal Voting

As required by the applicable regulations Cargolux published the official announcement of the Delegation Election on the company’s intranet on Friday, February 9th. Additionally, an email will be sent to all employees today, Monday, February 12th, announcing the election.

Even though we as pilots are automatically foreseen for postal voting we strongly recommend that you register for postal voting in any case. We therefore ask you to WAIT until the March roster period has been published on 16 February 2024 before requesting postal voting. Waiting with your request will allow your ALPL Board to provide you with important and up-to-date information, including detailed recommendations how to request postal voting, how to receive your ballot papers and how to cast your votes considering your roster. This information will be published by your ALPL Board on 16 February.

There will be plenty of time to request and receive your ballot as Human Resources will not be able to send out or make ballot papers available for postal voting before February 27th, due to the very strict timelines mandated by the applicable regulations.

In the meantime we recommend that you have a look at the updated FAQs for the Delegation Election and Postal Voting. More information will follow.

In case you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at elections@alpl.lu. 

Dirk Becker No Comments

Delegation Election 2024 – Your Candidates

Like for the last elections, we are pleased to announce that we will be able to present a list of 32 pilots as candidates on the LCGB list. This list consists of experienced delegates and many new colleagues who are willing to represent your interest in the next five years.
 
Your ALPL Board strongly recommends that you cast all your 32 votes for the LCGB list as this is the most effective way to make use of your votes. Simply place a ‘X’ in the circle within the black square above List 1 on the ballot, as shown in this picture.

Each vote will count and will make a difference. The message is clear: VOTE!

Your ALPL Board

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Delegation Election 2024

This is the third in a series of emails providing you with information about the election of the staff delegation.

These elections will be important for you, as the outcome will directly impact your future working conditions, as the result of the delegation election will have a direct impact on future CWA negotiations! 

The Delegation Election
Like the current delegation, the next delegation at Cargolux will consist of 16 delegates and 16 substitute delegates, giving you a total of 32 votes to be casted in the upcoming delegation election.

We are pleased to announce that we will be able to present a list of 32 pilots as candidates on the LCGB list. This list will consist of experienced delegates and many new colleagues who are willing to represent your interest in the next five years. It is encouraging to see some new faces. The list will be published in the near future.

Who should you vote?
Your ALPL Board strongly recommends that you cast all your 32 votes for the LCGB list as this is the most effective way to cast all your votes. This will also avoid that important votes are lost by not making use of all your 32 and helps to avoid errors when marking the ballot. Please follow this link to learn how to mark the ballot to avoid errors and that your votes will be void.

History has shown that each vote counts! The result of 2019, with more than 46% for the LCGB list, was excellent and made only possible by our members going the extra mile to cast their votes. Only this result made it possible to sign a CWA in August 2019, which abolished the B-Scale and introduced improved working conditions for all pilots, and implement further improvements for all pilots in the CWA signed in late 2023.

The outcome of the election will have a direct impact on future CWA negotiations. Only if we as pilots show unity and vote this will send a strong signal that having adequate working conditions is essential. As we have shown in the CWA negotiations in 2019 and most recently in 2023, as Pilot Representatives we will certainly not act against any other employee group. However, the best option is to take our future in our own hands and not being dependent on anyone, who is not aware about the very specific needs of our profession.

How do I vote?
The delegation election will take place on March 12th, 2024. Due to the fact that changing schedules make it impossible for you to know if you will be able to vote in the electoral office in Luxembourg, as pilot you are entitled to cast your votes by postal voting. You can use postal voting regardless if you would be on off, vacation, rest days or away on a rotation, on standby or on reserve on election day. You are also entitled to cast your votes by postal voting if you would be on additional off- time due to your part-time contract. Simply put, as pilot you are permitted to vote by postal voting in any case!

You ALPL Board highly recommends that you register for postal voting. Details on how to register for postal voting, the different options how you may receive and return your ballot before the electoral office closes on March 12th, will be published soon. We kindly ask you to wait until this information and the additional information your ALPL Board will provide, has been published to register for postal voting.

The message is clear: VOTE and each vote will count and will make a difference!

Please also take note of the Knowtam “Social Elections 2024”, the FAQ regarding the Delegation Election (no login needed), the additional information available on www.alpl.lu in the section VOTE, the information previously published and all future publications.

More information about how to request postal voting, how to receive and return your ballot, how to cast your votes by postal voting and your candidates will be published soon. Please stay tuned and remember: Vote!