ZaventemAt Brussels Airport, the staff of baggage handler Aviapartner held a spontaneous action on Thursday morning. According to the employees, the management failed to fulfill several promises. The fact that no meal break was given to the employees turned out to be the last straw. Several planes were unable to leave due to the strike and travelers who were already on the plane had to leave it again. Work resumed around 9 a.m. “But if the promises are not put on paper and fulfilled, we will shut down again”, an employee says.
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Joren Wollants, Robby Dierickx, Stijn Defoirdt, Yorick Dupon
02-06-22, 07:27
Latest update:
15:23
Bron:
own reporting, Belgium
Spokesperson Ihsane Chioua Lekhli explains how passengers are affected this morning:
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It was an individual decision not to grant the meal break, not a structural one by the management. “That came in very unexpectedly and strangely to the employees,” says ABVV secretary Sandra Langenus. “We had absolutely no intention of striking, but when we heard this, we had no choice but to convene the workers. Employees have the right to know at the start of their working day when they can take a break: otherwise you work eight hours without a break.”
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And so the Aviapartner staff stopped working around 6am. This caused serious disruption at the airport. “We’ve run out of patience,” one of the employees tells our editors anonymously. “We have warned long enough. Materials are not okay. The workload is way too high. The work on the planes is not distributed fairly and we do not receive bonuses, while the cargo department has had it. We can’t even eat because of the staff shortage. Even on hot summer days we don’t get time to have a drink, while the temperature on the tarmac is still a lot higher than elsewhere.”
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“There is great dissatisfaction with the staff shortage,” added Kurt Callaerts of ACV. “After corona, there will be plenty of flying again. We have long been asking for extra staff and better conditions. Now the measure is full.” According to ACV secretary Bjorn Van Den Eynde, at least 140 employees should be added to Aviapartner, out of a total of 380 to 400 now.
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The action had consequences for about 20 departing and about 20 inbound flights. Some of those flights were delayed, some left without luggage.
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TUI flights were particularly affected. “We have our own teams that take care of the baggage handling,” said spokeswoman Florence Bruyère. “It is possible that some luggage remains in Zaventem, but those suitcases are sent to the destination afterwards. This morning there were nine TUI flights, all of which departed with 1 to 2 hours delay.”
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Work resumed
The staff resumed work around 9 a.m. “The management had a meeting with the staff and apparently there was a problem with the daily schedule,” says Fouad Bougrine of the ACLVB. “It was not clear who had to do what and when was allowed to eat. Because it was yet another appointment that was not kept, the staff spontaneously decided to stop working. The management has now decided that the employees will be made clear what their daily schedule looks like. After the summer, we will then negotiate the update of the collective labor agreement, which has not been amended since 2009 and needs an amendment post-corona.”
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An agreement is urgently needed, say the unions. According to Van Den Eynde, however, it will be difficult to achieve that before the summer. “We think today’s pressure has opened the eyes of the management,” says Van Den Eynde.
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Langenus says it cannot guarantee that there will be no new promotions in the coming months. “It’s going to be a hot summer at the airport.” An employee can only confirm this statement. “If the promises made by the management are not put on paper and fulfilled, we will shut down again”, it sounds.
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