KLM will cut wages and other costs. Thursday will become clear how exactly. The unions are not reassured.
KLM has one more day to come up with a plan to reduce its costs by 15 percent. This was requested by Minister Hoekstra (finance), as a condition for government support. That plan is coming, but the chance that all involved trade unions will agree to it is small.
Trade union FNV, the largest union among KLM’s ground staff, is already seeing the downpour. “It seems as if the KLM management wants to implement its plan unilaterally, without our support,” says FNVer Joost van Doesburg. Low-paid employees will be hit hard, he also fears, while that was not the intention.
At the beginning of August, KLM announced that it would cut 5,000 jobs and it was already clear earlier: whoever stays must surrender wages. In recent months, the management has made little haste with a plan for this, the unions are surprised. Today – a day before Hoekstra’s deadline – the KLM top is sitting around the table with them in a last-ditch attempt to reach an agreement.
Miles apart
That is complicated. Because the KLM management has to deal with eight unions, three collective labor agreements and categories of personnel who are miles apart in terms of status and salary. Hoekstra and the House of Representatives also set their own requirements: staff with a salary of up to one and a half times the average must be spared and those who earn three times the average or more must give up 20 percent.
Until now, the KLM management has kept its jaws closed about the negotiations. But most unions announced around last weekend what they are willing to do, and definitely not. This does not yet recognize the contours of a widely supported agreement.
Cannot explain
For example, three unions for ground workers have announced that they are prepared to for the time being forego the 5 percent extra wages (in two steps) that had already been agreed before the crisis. “In times of crisis, such a salary increase cannot be explained to the taxpayer,” says Michiel Wallaard of the CNV.
But that promise also applies to people who earn less than average, and that is against the sore leg of the FNV. “That pay rise was simply agreed,” says Van Doesburg. “Cutting into it is therefore contrary to the conditions of Hoekstra and the House.”
That is not all the bad news for lower paid KLM employees, the FNV fears. The KLM top has also announced that fewer irregular services will be operated. But for many ground staff, the irregularity allowance makes up 25 to 35 percent of their salary, ”says Van Doesburg. “If they lose some of that, it adds up hard.”
Big earners
In the meantime, many KLM’s are looking with suspicion at the pilots, KLM’s big earners. Pilot’s union VNV announced on Monday that it wanted to give up 20 percent, but the other unions are skeptical about whether the calculations of the VNV add up to that percentage. “Are they really handing in enough? Yes, it will be looked into, ”says Wallaard of the CNV.
Then there are also differences of opinion about the regulations for KLM staff who resign or receive redundancies: what will they receive and under what conditions can they return in better times? “We made a proposal on Friday, which the management would study over the weekend,” says Annette Groeneveld, chairman of the VNC cabin crew association. “We haven’t heard about that anymore. Apparently the management does not think this is so urgent. Why not? No idea.”
When the unions join the management on Wednesday, there is no plan on which consensus already exists for any of the three categories of KLM personnel (“ground”, “cabin” and “cockpit”), says Van Doesburg. “While KLM staff are loyal to dogs, they have a blue beating heart. You would say their support matters. But apparently the management does not think this is necessary. ”
Also read:
FNV is considering going to court after “scandalous” postponement of pay rise by KLM
KLM is postponing a planned wage increase without consultation with unions, FNV is now considering going to court.
