Pay rise agreement averts French EasyJet Christmas strike
The management has offered the 7.5% basic rise asked for by the cabin crew union
A Christmas strike from EasyJet cabin crew seems less likely now, as the airline has accepted the demands of the union
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French EasyJet cabin crew will not strike over the Christmas period, as the airline management has met the pay rise demands of their main union.
“The company has accepted our demands: a 7.5% increase to the basic salary and 3.5% to performance-based additions. And a €3,000 PPV (prime de partage de la valeur) bonus,” the Syndicat National du Personnel Navigant Commercial (SNPNC) union said.
"For us this is a good deal so we won't call for a strike this time around," a representative for the SNPNC union told Reuters.
EasyJet’s director-general in France and the Netherlands Bertrand Godinot confirmed the offer.
This proposal was “very well received” by the SNPNC, he said, adding that he was waiting for a “speedy confirmation” from the other union representing air stewards and stewardesses, UNAC. “We are working to finalise the details of the agreement.”
SNPNC represents “the vast majority” of cabin crew in France.
Mr Godinot also said that EasyJet’s aim was to “ensure that throughout the Christmas holiday period we can take passengers to meet their families, see their friends, return to the sun or go skiing at this time when everyone needs a change of scenery.”
However, this comes as UK Border Force announces strike action from December 23-26 and then again from December 28-31.
This will affect Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow, Gatwick and Heathrow (Terminals 2-5) airports, as well as the Port of Newhaven.
Border Force officials check people’s passports as they arrive in the UK, so this is likely to disrupt flights coming from France as well as other countries.
Read more: UK Border Force to strike for eight days over Christmas
The SNPNC had issued a notice at the end of November warning that there was a “very significant risk” of a strike over the festive period, if salary negotiations did not reach a satisfactory conclusion.
However, no official strike notice was ever issued.
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