Here you will find an ever expanding resource covering aviation issues that affect all categories of civil aviation workers including cabin crew, airline ground staff, pilots, airport workers and air traffic management staff. Be sure to return regularly or to register to receive updates as this area will be updated on a daily and weekly basis. Also, please email us at aviation@itf.org.uk if you have any links or material you would like to contribute here, or simply to offer us feedback. The ITF Civil Aviation section.
The fight for better conditions continues, as the ITF-affiliated Icelandic Airline Pilots Association (FIA) carried out the first of five planned strikes last Friday 9 May.
The agreement between employers Icelandair and its pilots expired in November last year. Since then, negotiations around pilots’ pay and conditions have been ongoing. The company has had tremendous success over the last four years, resulting in substantial executive bonuses and an excellent return on investment for shareholders. FIA say it is time the workers saw some financial benefit – but Icelandair management is declining to share.
After Friday’s twelve-hour strike, further actions are planned for 16, 20 and 30 May, with this final action lasting four days. From Friday, pilots at the airline have refused to work overtime until the dispute is settled. 98 percent of Icelandair pilots voted in favor of taking industrial action when the FIA balloted its members on 29 April.
The ITF has offered support, with acting general secretary Steve Cotton this week urging the Icelandic government to intervene.
ITF civil aviation section secretary Gabriel Mocho said: “The FIA has adopted a cooperative stance, and despite having a very strong mandate to carry out industrial action, has still been attempting to reach an agreed settlement with the airline…the pilots’ claims are fair and legitimate, and it would be in the airline’s as well as Iceland’s best interests to open negotiations with the FIA”.
On behalf of 2.5 million transport workers and 250,000 civil aviation workers from 41 European countries and over 230 trade unions, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) expresses its full support to the industrial action currently being in progress at ‘Norwegian Air’ by Parat. The ETF has learnt that Norwegian’s management is not ready to […]
A team of ITF civil aviation representatives built stronger ties with Cuban workers as part of a solidarity mission to the country between 27 April and 2 May. The group included aviation worker representatives from Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Brazil, Spain and Venezuela. ITF civil aviation section secretary Gabriel Mocho and ITF Americas regional secretary Antonio […]
Qatar’s national carrier became wholly government-owned following last year’s leadership transition, the company’s CEO has said. The airline has previously alluded to the change in Arabic signage around Qatar, and confirmed the move to Doha News last fall. But this is the first time Akbar Al Baker has publicly spoken about the restructuring. Before the […]
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is running a competition to find the worst boss in the world – and there’s a familiar face in their hall of shame: Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways. He’s the man responsible for the culture of fear at the airline, the one staff there say they’re most […]
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) will host the first Cabin Operations Safety Conference, 20-22 May 2014 in Madrid, Spain. “Cabin operations safety is an integral part of our overall commitment to safety of flight. The Cabin Operations Safety Conference provides a forum to address the most important challenges from a global perspective, bringing together […]
ITF unions have vowed to protect working conditions for aviation workers at Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS). Norway’s ITF-affiliated Parat union has long campaigned against NAS working practices. The airline has a track record of seeking to avoid Nordic working regulations by outsourcing various parts of its operations. In February, NAS obtained a license to operate […]
Basil Thwala, legal advisor to the Swaziland Transport & Allied Workers’ Union (STAWU), was released from prison this weekend. ITF affiliate STAWU has been fighting to free Thwala since 2012, when he was arrested and charged on a picket line protest. Swaziland is one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies, and has a record […]