Swiss : Wage negotiations with ground staff have failed
Published: Friday, Nov 10th 2023, 15:50
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Swiss' wage negotiations with its ground staff have failed. The airline's management has now imposed unilateral wage measures. However, the airline has agreed a new collective labor agreement (CLA) with cabin crew.
Swiss management has broken off negotiations and unilaterally announced wage measures, SEV-GATA, the transport workers' union, announced on Friday. Immediately prior to this, Swiss had announced a breakthrough in negotiations with cabin crew.
In a statement, SEV-GATA, VPOD and KFMV explained that Swiss rejects a full general compensation for inflation for all ground staff. The wage measures imposed by the airline would therefore not even cover inflation.
The airline confirms that negotiations have been broken off. The social partners had rejected Swiss' last offer and given the airline until the end of this week to accept their final offer. This was not accepted, according to a statement.
On average 2 percent more
According to Swiss, the unilateral wage measures for ground staff provide for an average wage increase of 2 percent for all ground staff covered by the CLA.
According to the unions, the general salary increase of 1.4 percent is planned, with an additional 0.6 percent for individual salary increases. In addition, Swiss will increase the employer's pension fund contributions by one percentage point for all ground staff.
"It was important to us to give our employees a wage increase as of January 1, 2024," a Swiss spokeswoman told AWP. The airline has therefore decided to implement the wage adjustments unilaterally.
Further negotiations required
The ground staff union SEV-GATA is calling for a resumption of negotiations. While Swiss' profits are soaring, the airline is remaining modest in the wage round for ground staff.
In the light of Swiss' results - operating profit amounted to CHF 616 million in the first nine months - the wage increases decreed were "simply too little", the unions stated in their communiqué.
Swiss had benefited "significantly" from the inflation. Not granting employees the cost-of-living adjustment is an "affront."
Agreement with cabin crew
However, Swiss has reached an agreement with its cabin crew. According to the new CLA agreed with the cabin crew union Kapers, there will be more pay, an inflation adjustment and higher expenses.
The basic salary will be increased by CHF 400 per month. The contract also includes a two percent salary increase to compensate for inflation. This has been in place since the beginning of 2023.
Swiss also wants to improve the quality of life of cabin crew with better schedules. In total, this will cost the airline CHF 200 million over the next five years.
However, one hurdle still needs to be overcome: The members must accept the new CLA. An initial agreement was rejected by Kapers members in a vote at the beginning of the year.
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