Pilots take KLM to court over vaccination obligation through back door Financial

The VNV and cabin union VNC have previously reported that applying pilots and flight attendants are being asked about their vaccination status. The VNV believes that KLM is now coming up with an obligation through the back door. “In a general sense, we endorse the government’s position that the government’s obligation to vaccinate is not acceptable,” a spokesperson said. “KLM has also confirmed this to us. Since there are more than enough pilots available everywhere, there is no operational basis for KLM to demand this.” The SGP has already asked parliamentary questions about the issue.

Restrictions

KLM still has to deal with numerous travel restrictions in countries. Some of the flying staff are not vaccinated. Until now, it was estimated that the vaccination rate among pilots was about 90% and between 60% and 70% among cabin crew.

KLM faces operational challenges and tensions in the workplace as a result of the vaccination obligation. In the collective labor agreements, however, KLM agreed that there would be no vaccination obligation, which is why the VNV believes that the current hiring policy amounts to a vaccination obligation and believes that this is contrary to the collective labor agreement.

KLM employees who have not been vaccinated must record in a system at which destinations they cannot be deployed, without stating reasons. The person in question will then not be scheduled for the relevant destination. For KLM, this represents a major logistical challenge, plus tension on the work floor. Vaccinated colleagues have to step in for the unvaccinated, which puts pressure on the schedules, as it turned out recently.

The VNV takes the issue seriously, because pilots must also indicate that they will also comply with possible entry obligations in the future. According to the VNV, the hiring process stops immediately if the applicant answers negatively. The union states that agreements are ‘bypassed’.

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