Ryanair pulls Copenhagen base in dispute with Danish unions over ‘Irish working conditions’ (independent.ie)

Ryanair has pulled its base from Copenhagen after a decision by the Danish Labour Court that ruled that Copenhagen airport staff had the right to refuse to service its flights in a dispute over workers’ rights. The Irish budget airline’s policy of employing people in countries such as Denmark under the less generous terms of […]


July 6, 2015

Civil aviation unions plan fight against damaging impact of FOCs

Forty-one of the ITF’s civil aviation affiliates from 22 countries agreed on 26 July to develop a global union strategy with strong national and regional pillars to fight against the damaging impact of the growing use of flags of convenience (FOCs) in the aviation industry. The previous day, they had participated in an industry-wide conference […]


July 2, 2015

Danish court allows industrial action against Ryanair

On 1 July 2015, the Danish Labour Court ruled that Ryanair has to engage in collective bargaining with trade unions within five days and that the Flight Personnel Union (FPU), affiliated to the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), can legally enter into an industrial conflict with Ryanair. This means […]


Ryanair Clashes With Denmark Over Labor Laws (bloomberg.com)

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary loves a good fight, and he’s won far more than he’s lost, building the Irish carrier into Europe’s biggest discount airline over the past 20 years. But tiny Denmark could be O’Leary’s toughest adversary yet. Since introducing service to Copenhagen this spring, Ryanair has come under nonstop attack from unions, […]


June 23, 2015

Prosecute Qatar Airways over pregnancy sackings, TWU demands (TWU.com.au)

The Transport Workers’ Union is demanding that the Government prosecute Qatar Airways for discriminating against women workers, including allowing for them to be sacked if they become pregnant. The airline should be banned from entering Australia unless it abides by anti-discrimination laws, the union added. The call comes after the International Labour Organisation found the […]


June 19, 2015

Avianca-Colombia: IFC should follow ombudsman’s recommendations for labour standards compliance, say unions (ituc-csi.org)

The ITUC and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) call on the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm, to implement the recommendations issued today by IFC’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) to improve compliance procedures for IFC Performance Standard 2 on labour and working conditions. The CAO report, which came in response […]


May 20, 2015

Fritt Fall – airlines in free fall

Fritt fall – på jobb i lufta til lavpris, by Pål Vegard Hagesæther, reviewed by Asbjørn Wahl, adviser to the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees, and chair of the ITF urban transport committee In the book Fritt fall – på jobb i lufta til lavpris (Free fall – at work in the air […]


May 12, 2015

Seventy-five union leaders meet in Santiago, Chile

Unions from LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines from seven countries expand support for striking LAN Airlines workers Union leaders representing mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, and ground staff of LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines from seven countries: Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay are providing support to the striking workers of LAN in Chile. […]


April 14, 2015