KLM pilots threaten to strike over pay and work pressure
By Manja van Kesteren
Last Friday, pilots working for Ryanair held strikes in multiple countries, including the Netherlands. Pilots employed by Dutch airline KLM may be the next to strike.
Dissatisfaction
According to a letter from pilots’ union VNV, sent to its own members, KLM pilots are threatening to strike if the airline doesn’t respond to their demands by Friday, the Telegraaf reports.
“KLM doesn’t seem to realise how widely spread the dissatisfaction amongst its pilots is and that immediate adjustments are needed to alleviate pressure at work,” the VNV letter states. “If KLM does not agree with our proposal, we will commence with work stoppages. “
It is unclear when the strike should start if KLM does not comply with the demands.
A difficult phase
For months, the union and KLM have been negotiating about a new collective agreement (CAO). It seemed that there was a breakthrough in May, however, VNV members were unhappy about the terms, leaving the negotiations “in a difficult phase”.
Ryanair
On Friday, August 10, pilots of airline Ryanair went on strike in five European countries, including the Netherlands. Whilst there was minimum disruption to flights from Ryanair from Eindhoven, more than 55.000 travellers in Europe were affected by the strike.
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Managing Editor at IamExpat Media. Manja studied English and Creative & Professional Writing at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK. She has been working as a content editor and SEO copywriter since 2007, in both the English and Dutch language. As any writer should, she is VERY passionate about books, as well as arts and crafts, Netflix, metal music, cheese, and her silly guinea pigs.Read more