Cargolux

We are pleased to report that on 14 February 2019 the first 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. What this means in practical terms is that both parties will schedule further negotiation meetings and to keep the ONC informed of the progress. The law foresees a minimum of 16 weeks of dialogue before either party could request a “non-conciliation”.

Perhaps management will from this point forward put all the required resources and effort into finding an agreeable solution for all issues and to achieve true social sustainability.

This is the second in a series of articles providing you with information about the election of 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 the ongoing CWA negotiations!

The Delegation Election
Due to the increased number of employees, 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.

Like, in the past 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 that some of our colleagues who joined Cargolux under the terms of what is often referred to as “B-Scale” are candidates. 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 2013, with more than 48% for the LCGB list, was excellent and made only possible by our members going the extra mile to cast their votes.

The outcome of the election will have a direct impact on the ongoing CWA negotiations, as the result of the election will be taken as an indicator how much the pilots want to see significant improvements in their terms and conditions. Only if we as pilots show unity and vote this will send a strong signal that changes in our working conditions are essential. We will certainly not act against any other employee group, as we know how this would affect the terms and conditions of our colleagues. 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, 2019. 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 cast your votes by postal voting regardless if you would be on off, vacation, rest days or rest before off 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!

The 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. This is expected for February 18th.

The message is clear: Make your voice heard and VOTE!

Each vote will count and will make a difference. This delegation will be important for you. If you want to see a change in your working conditions, it will be essential that you vote.

Please also take note of the Knowtam “Social Elections 2019”, the additional information available on here in the section Social Elections 2019, 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:

Make your voice heard – Vote!

This is the second in a series of articles about the upcoming social elections, 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 the ongoing CWA negotiations!
 
The Delegation
The staff delegation is the legal body that represents the employees within a company. By law the delegation has to be informed and consulted on issues related to the working conditions of the staff with the intention to improve the working conditions and work safety, to improve on the job training and professional development opportunities and to seek improvements of work-life balance for all staff members, ground staff and pilots alike.
 
Additionally, to these tasks the result of the most recent delegation election plays an important role in CWA negotiations.
 
CWA Negotiations
While not being directly involved in the negotiations for a collective work agreement (CWA), the results of the delegation election are used to determine, if a union could sign a CWA alone, even against the will of any other group taking part in the negotiations.
 
The signing of the 2015 CWA has shown what happens to your terms and conditions if individuals, who were either not pilots or were never elected by the pilots, claim to represent your interests in CWA negotiations. The outcome – unsustainable working conditions – is well known to you.
 
As the result of the delegation election of 2013 had been contested, the previous delegation, elected in 2011, was kept in power until early 2017, when the highest administrative court issued a final ruling that the result of the 2013 election is indeed valid. As the seat distribution in the delegation elected in 2011 was different, the labour minister indicated that he would accept the signing of the present CWA in December 2015 against the clearly expressed will of your representatives. The outcome is well known, the present CWA.
 
What has happened in in the CWA negotiations in 2015 would most likely not have been possible with the staff delegation elected in 2013, that would have ensured that the interests of each employee group, including the pilots, were respected in the present CWA. You would not be exposed to unsustainable flight time limitations and most likely new colleagues would not have been employed under significantly different working conditions and compensation below what is needed in a high cost environment like Luxembourg.
 
The outcome of the CWA negotiations in 2015 should be reason enough for you to participate in the delegation election. Your participation in this election will be essential. Only if you will cast your votes it will be possible to prevent that a future CWA could again be enforced upon us, like the one signed in 2015.
 
In the next email we will provide more details about the election itself, how you can cast your votes and most important about the postal voting procedure.
 
The message is clear: Make your voice heard and VOTE!
 
Each vote will count and will make a difference. This delegation election will be important for you. If you want to see a change in your working conditions, it will be essential that you vote!
 
Please also take note of the Knowtam “Social Elections 2019”, the FAQ, the information previously published and all future publications.

More information about the delegation election will be provided soon, including details how to request postal voting, how to cast your votes by postal voting and your candidates. Please stay tuned and remember:
 
Make your voice heard – Vote!

This is the first in a series of articles we will publish to provide you with information about the election of the staff delegation and the members of the Chambre des salariés (CSL). We will provide you with important information why it will be essential that you cast your votes in both elections. This may include information you may be aware.

We urge you to read the information carefully as it will include additional information you may not be aware of, if you have been employed in 2013 while it will be completely new information for the more than 180 colleagues who were hired after April 2013. Please also take note of the first edition of Knowtam “Social Elections 2019”, which has been sent to your home address and is available online following this link. Further information will be available oin the section Social Elections 2019 on this website. Click here to see how to navigate to this section.

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 the ongoing CWA negotiations!

Social Elections – Electing your Staff Delegation and the Chambre des salariés
Every five years, the employees in Luxembourg are called on to participate in the nationwide social elections to elect in two separate elections the members of the staff delegation in their companies and the members of the Chambre des salariés (CSL). The next social elections will take place in March of this year, giving you the opportunity to elect those colleagues who will represent your interests for the next five years.

In this first article we provide information about the CSL, why it will be important that you vote and how you can participate in the CSL election.

The Chambre des salariés
While the election of the staff delegation certainly has a more direct impact on the individual working conditions of an employee, taking part in the election for the CSL is of important as well.

The government must seek the opinion of the CSL on any draft legislation or regulation relating to the country’s economic, financial and social policies. In addition to being involved in the legislative process, the CSL is represented in state advisory bodies, the social insurance institutions and in the labour and social courts. Globalization, digitalization and the continued striving for liberalization are factors that will continue to impact our jobs, making it important that the interests of employees will be continued to be represented in rule making processes in the future.

The CSL Election
In the CSL election you elect the members of the general assembly, which is made up of 60 elected members, divided into 9 professional groups. As a pilot you belong to occupational group 5 “other services” and elect the 14 representatives plus 14 substitutes, in total 28 members, of this group.

Nationally representative union
Additionally, the number of votes a union receives in the election for the CSL determines, if this union is considered to be nationally representative. By participating in the CSL election, you also determine which of the unions are nationally representative.

By law only nationally representative unions can negotiate and sign collective work agreements (CWA) in any company. In order to achieve the status of nationally representative union, a union must have received at least 20% of the votes in the last elections to the CSL. Presently there are only two nationally representative unions, one is the LCGB.

In order to represent your interests in negotiations for a collective work agreement (CWA) as ALPL we need a partner, management must by law accept as negotiating and signatory union in CWA negotiations.

When ALPL was founded more than 50 years ago, the founding fathers of our associations were faced with the question how to make sure, that the association would be able to effectively represent your interest when negotiating with management working conditions for the pilots within the framework of a CWA. After careful considerations and legal advice, it was decided that ALPL needs a strong partner, a nationally representative union to guarantee that our interest will be represented in CWA negotiations.

For many years the LCGB is this strong partner as nationally representative union ALPL cooperates with. The LCGB provided our association the required freedom to represent your interests in CWA negotiations. This means that your ALPL Board is actively involved in CWA negotiations, sitting at the negotiation table representing your interests.

Vote List 2 ‘LCGB’
Based on this fact and the explanations provided above, your ALPL Board recommends that you vote for List 2 the LCGB list by simply marking the circle above List 2 on the ballot with a ‘X’.

Only by maintaining the nationally representative status can we guarantee that our partner union, the LCGB, will be able to negotiate and sign collective work agreements in the future, which will represent our interests.

How do I vote?
The CSL election takes place exclusively by postal voting. The postal voting papers will be mailed to your home address in the coming weeks, without you having to apply for it. The picture below shows a sample of how the envelope you will receive looks.

Information how to mark the ballot, how you have to return the ballot by mail is explained in the Knowtam “Social Elections 2019” and can also be found here. Additionally, we recommend that you watch this short video showing how to mark your ballot and how to return it.

More information about the even more important delegation election will be provided soon. Please stay tuned and remember:

Make your voice heard – Vote!

2018 was a busy year for the ALPL Cargolux Division and 2019 will not be any different. The entire board will be occupied with ongoing topics like the negotiations for a new CWA that commenced in summer last year and will continue well into 2019, the Social Elections in Luxembourg, which will take place in March and the yearly Cargolux Divisional Assembly, just to name a few.

As always, our work and engagement will continuously be guided by the ALPL´s mission statement:

Flight Safety and Pilot’s Health
Pilots’ Social Rights
Job Security and Working Conditions

Success or failure to achieve our aims however will heavily depend on the support and loyalty of you, our members. This message is not new to you and was repeatedly mentioned in the past. In 2019 though you will have the unique opportunity to show your dedication to actively participate in shaping your future in Cargolux on even two occasions: 

• The ongoing CWA negotiations and
• the election for a new staff delegation.

We encourage you to collectively continue to strive for the necessary changes to make Cargolux the employer of choice again!

Please find below an update on:

• CWA Negotiations
• Delegation Elections 2019
• Cargolux Divisional Assembly 2019
• Hotel Accommodation 

CWA Negotiations
In the last CWA negotiations update on 5 January 2019, we informed you about the decision of both Unions, LCGB and OGBL, to initiate the conciliation process. It is the next step to resolve the labour dispute and to agree on a new CWA that comprises acceptable solutions based on the Unions claims.

It is now up to the Office National de Conciliation (ONC) to convene the first meeting and further negotiations with management will only take place within the scope of the conciliation process, which is defined by Luxembourgish labour law. We will keep you posted.

Delegation Elections 2019
In Luxembourg the elections for the staff delegation take place every 5 years. The next one will be in March 2019 and we ask you already now to spread the word and to make all pilots aware of how important it will be to participate and have a sound and functioning pilot representation within the delegation. The negotiations of the CWA signed in 2015 highlight what could happen to our working conditions. It should be clear that the outcome of the elections will have an impact on the CWA negotiations.

All relevant information in regard to the Delegation Election 2019 will be provided during the coming weeks through different channels. Information has already been published, the first edition of ALPL’s Knowtam “Social Elections 2019” has been mailed to your home address. Please read it and stay tuned for more information published soon!

Cargolux Divisional Assembly
In April 2019, the next Cargolux Divisional Assembly will take place. After the regular two-year term also a new Cargolux Divisional Board will be elected at this assembly. Potentially not all members of the board will stand for re-election, hence we would like to ask you to consider becoming a candidate for the election of the new Cargolux Divisional Board. A separate invitation including more details and the agenda will be sent in due time.

Hotel Accommodation
Over the past couple of years the ALPL Hotel Committee has received an increasing number of complaints from our members about crew hotels failing to provide the standards and services required to enable adequate rest during our demanding type of operation. Given the high number of complaints it is apparent that the standards of our hotels are slowly but steadily being challenged.

In this context we would like to remind you that in the case that your accommodation does not fulfill the requirements of either the hotel policy or your rest is in some way comprised, there are a couple of options you need to do.

• First, carefully evaluate your fitness to conduct your next flight. In light of the rosters/ changes we face nowadays it is absolutely essential that you are well rested before commencing any flight duty. If in doubt do not hesitate to request a quieter room, potentially requiring additional rest which may delay the departure accordingly. Please don’t forget to inform all your colleagues and the local station. Make sure to file a fatigue report and send a copy to cvhotels@alpl.lu

• If the hotel does not conform to the points laid out in the hotel policy, please file a VR and send a copy to cvhotels@alpl.lu

• Should the hotel be completely unsuitable, please liaise with crew control and request the booking of another hotel for the entire crew. Settling the expenses with the company credit card (after obtaining approval by the Company) is another option open to you. If you see a hotel on our network that is not familiar to you, please also sent an email to cvhotels@alpl.lu

• Without a copy of the reports you submit, the Hotel Committee has nothing in their hands to follow-up these complaints with the Company. Therefore, please take the time and always write a report and send a copy to the Hotel Committee as well.

• Finally, the CWA states the minimum of what the company will provide, such as a breakfast and internet, found in the addendum of the hotel-policy. Additional benefits are negotiated on your behalf by the ALPL Hotel Committee members and are at the generosity of the hotel. We are working now to ensure, that all benefits are made transparent and will provide an update shortly.

Remember: We can negotiate conditions, but you have to enforce them.