Cargolux Board

Part 1 (10:00 – 12:00 Local time)

Part 2 (15:00 – 17:00 Local time)

In this edition we will provide an overview of management’s ‘final’ offer after an extensive negotiation process where the LCGB negotiation team did its upmost to deliver on the claims ALPL members were demanding.

As management refuses to move from their current position, it is now time for every member to decide for themselves if this package is acceptable or not. In order to allow you to form an opinion before you will be asked to either “accept” or “reject” management’s ‘final’ offer we urge you to watch this edition of “Debrief”.

A presentation summarising management’s ‘final’ offer can be downloaded here. We recommend that you have this presentation available when watching the video.

More information regarding the electronic ratification (vote) will be provided very soon in a separate email.

Before the ratification process commences, two online Q&A sessions will be scheduled on Monday, 17^th July 2023 to allow members seek clarification and to better understand what is proposed. The exact times and links will be communicated soon.

We would like to provide you with an update following several CWA meetings in the last two weeks and the meeting at the ONC on 7 July 2023 to clarify the next steps.
 
Despite some positive developments in some of the remaining priority claims, e.g. for pilots job security and refleeting, management´s negotiation team obviously still lacks a clear mandate to be in the position to commit to the agreed text that has been negotiated between members of both negotiation teams.

Additionally, management is of the opinion that Cargolux employees are very well remunerated and in combination with the exceptionally high profit share do not deserve a salary increase of more than 2% over the next three years. Furthermore, management firmly rejected any sort of automatic inflation compensation in the CWA in case the present index system in Luxembourg should be amended. 

At the ONC, Union representatives highlighted the urgency to come to an agreement to avoid further escalation. It again became very clear that management´s strategy is to delay any possible agreement and to put the Unions under pressure and even threatens to remove acquired rights in the CWA, e.g. progressive early retirement schemes or time unit increases.
 
The president of the ONC strongly recommended that management presents the status of each claim from their perspective to get clarity where we stand and to provide an improved offer concerning the salary increase in the coming days. She also explicitly mentioned the legal possibility for any of the parties to request a non-conciliation as of 14 July 2023.

Depending on the developments, your ALPL Board will present to you either details of a package and the factual pros and cons to what management is offering or ask you to enable the Unions to increase the pressure by voting for a non-conciliation which is a prerequisite to organize industrial action.
 
Please stay tuned for important updates in the near future!

In this Debrief edition we provide our members with an update about the last negotiation meetings, which took place on 06 and 15 June 2023 and where we stand in these negotiations. Additionally, a meeting at the ONC was scheduled on 07 June 2023.

The negotiations are ongoing and we still see only little movement of management´s position in regard to our high priority claims. Please take a few minutes of your time to watch this update and get mentally prepared that at some point your support and active engagement as a member might be needed to achieve an acceptable agreement!

The level of safety within the aviation industry has continuously been improved over the last decades and therefore only few pilots are involved in serious incidents or accidents. 
 
Fortunately, the vast majority will be spared from such events throughout their career, nonetheless we have experienced first-hand how quickly it can happen. Whilst we all are trained to handle non-normals in the simulator on a regular basis, only little knowledge exists about the processes that are set in motion once all checklists have been completed and the aircraft has been parked.
 
Hence, we would like to remind you that ALPL has an established Flight Safety Committee, which can provide you as a member with the required information and support. Not only have they published Incident and Accident Guidelines, but there is also an Emergency Hotline which is available 24/7 on 365 days of the year.
 
Please click here to get more information on this topic. We recommend making use of this support system whenever it is required and to save the Emergency Hotline phone number in your contacts.
 
Finally, we would like to inform you that our colleagues, who have been involved in recent events and reached out to us are getting all the required support they have asked for.
 
Fly safe!

In this Debrief edition we provide our members with an update about the last negotiation meetings, which took place on 25 and 26 May 2023 and where we stand in these negotiations.

The negotiations are ongoing and we still see a significant gap between the positions of the Unions and management in regard to our high priority claims. 

Please take a few minutes of your time to watch this update and get mentally prepared that at some point your support and active engagement as a member might be needed to achieve an acceptable agreement!

On 05 May 2023 another meeting at the Office National de Conciliation (ONC) took place.

The Unions LCGB and OGBL as well as management provided the president of the ONC with an update on the ongoing CWA negotiations and the status of the priority claims since the conciliation process has started.

Referring to Cargolux management’s decision to contest the competence of the ONC on 24 March 2023, the president of the ONC made a clear statement that irrespective of the ongoing legal proceedings, the conciliation process is continuing.

Despite the more active engagement of the management negotiation team and the progress made in certain areas concerning work – life – balance, there is no or only little movement on many major union claims.

The next meeting at the ONC is scheduled for the 07 June 2023. Until then further negotiation meetings are planned to find acceptable solutions on the following 8 priority claims identified by the ONC:

• Salary increase and index protection (common claim)
• Harmonization of night supplements (pilots’ claim)
• New Salary Scale (ground-staff claim)
• Structured feedback (management claim)
• Disciplinary process (common claim)
• Job Security including ICV and refleeting (common claim)
• Working from home (ground-staff claim)
• Time accounts (ground-staff claim)

Following the involvement of the ONC on 24 March 2023 and the start of the conciliation process, additional negotiation meetings have been scheduled in April 2023.

In this Debrief edition we provide our members with an update about the last meetings, which took place on 18 and 28 April 2023 and where we stand in these negotiations.

Following the meeting held on 24 March 2023, the ONC accepted the case for conciliation on the ongoing CWA negotiations, which has been confirmed in writing. Please click here to read the document.
 
Beginning this week, the Unions were informed that Senior Management will contest the ONC’s decision at the Administrative Court. This however does not automatically stop the ONC process.

In order to continue the negotiations within the ONC process the Union requested to have meeting dates before the next meeting at the ONC, which is scheduled on 5 May 2023, to report the progress. Three dates were agreed upon and the first meeting took place on 18 April 2023 where the priority Common Claims were once again negotiated including some items that Cargolux Management had claimed. In this meeting both Unions clearly stated that the ONC process has commenced despite management`s actions that were taken.

Items that appear to have some closure are a Part-Time Scheme for ground staff, and from management claims Single Day Sick Leave and Unfair Dismissal.

Unfortunately, management is refusing any counter proposal on a Salary Increase including Index Protection and Job Security that includes the future re-fleeting, Cargolux Italia and potential outsourcing due to restructuring of the Cargo Center in Luxembourg.

The next meetings are scheduled on 28 April 2023 to discuss Pilot specific claims and 2 May 2023 for the Ground Staff related claims.

We would like to inform you that on 24 March 2023 the meeting at the Office National de Conciliation (ONC) took place. 

After both parties presented their case, the ONC has acknowledged the impasse between the Unions and management. The ONC is now officially involved and has scheduled another meeting at the beginning of May in order to be informed of the progress of the negotiations. 

The law foresees a minimum of 16 weeks of dialogue within the conciliation process. Only if no agreement would be reached within this time, either party could request a “non-conciliation”.

The acknowledged impasse by the ONC is also a clear signal to management to put more effort into finding an agreeable solution and to move away from their stalling tactics. From now on we expect management to sincerely negotiate all our claims and concerns to achieve true social sustainability.

The Unions communicated to management already that they are available to meet for further negotiations to find acceptable solutions until the next ONC meeting in May.