KLM does not yet have to count on the green light for the remaining 2.5 billion euros in government loans. Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Finance) thinks the wage sacrifice of the KLM staff is still too meager in exchange for the tax money. But he also knows: the aviation company will not last long without government support.
KLM does not have to count on the green light for the remaining 2.5 billion euros in government loans. Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Finance) thinks the wages sacrifice of the KLM staff is still too meager in exchange for the tax money. But he also knows: the aviation company will not last long without government support.
Hoekstra is in a dilemma. On the one hand, KLM with Schiphol as its base is important for the Dutch economy. The minister does not miss an opportunity to emphasize this.
On the other hand, there are conditions to the support. So no matter how badly KLM needs the money, Hoekstra will keep a tight hand for the time being.
KLM has already received a first part. At the end of August, the government transferred 277 million euros, through bank loans that the state guarantees, another 665 million euros. The aviation company is therefore the largest user of the wage subsidy (NOW) from the emergency packages.
Hoekstra: ‘It is reasonable that something is required in return’
But it will stop there for the time being. The wages sacrifice of the staff must last for Hoekstra the same duration as the entire term of the state aid. That is probably five years. The ground and cabin crew have made agreements for two years, the pilots for a year and a half.
These plans had already been submitted on October 1. The FNV, one of the unions with which negotiations are taking place, says it is surprised by this “last-minute” extra condition of the cabinet. Nothing true, Hoekstra said on Friday. According to him, the agreements were clear.
“KLM has made the most use of the NOW of all companies, it is the only company in which the cabinet has bought substantial shares and the only company where we are about to issue a billion-dollar loan. I think that something is being demanded in return. “said the minister just after the cabinet meeting.
The signal: KLM is the requesting party, they must come across the bridge.
Many KLM planes are on the ground, because fewer passengers want to fly due to the corona crisis. (Photo: Pro Shots)
KLM is literally and figuratively on the ground
That did not happen on Saturday. In addition to FNV, pilots union VNV also did not agree with the extra wage sacrifices. The question is what the cabinet will do if it stays that way. What options are there?
KLM is literally and figuratively on the ground and it was Hoekstra himself who said this spring when announcing the billion dollar support: “If KLM falls, it will not only have consequences for the company and the staff, but for all the stones that will come after it. . ”
Making the company so important also weakens your negotiating position to make demands. When asked whether the cabinet is keeping its wallet with tax money in its pocket, and thereby pushing KLM into the abyss, Hoekstra used a well-known Hague trick on Friday: “I will not go into if-then questions.”
