Finnair flight attendants reject pay cut for new cabin staff

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A dispute over plans by the Finnish airline Finnair for new arrangements in the pay of cabin crews continued on Thursday after the Finnish Cabin Crew Union (SLSY) rejected a proposal that would effectively cut pay for new flight attendants.
      Finnair has said that it plans to offer its new employees 30 percent less pay than what established employees earn.
      The rejection led to the cancellation of negotiations planned for later in the day. SLSY chairman Mauri Koskenniemi said that the sides would probably meet sometime next week.
      Meanwhile, SLSY is making moves to merge with the Finnish Transport Workers- Union (AKT) since June. According to a news item on the commercial television network Nelonen, or Channel 4, discussions on the matter begin next week. SLSY feels that joining AKT could give it a better bargaining position.
     
If the discussions with Finnair do not bring the desired result, Koskenniemi says that SLSY is ready to take industrial action, and to impose a boycott on Aero Airlines, an Estonian carrier which is part of the Finnair Group.
      Finnair says that if no agreement is reached, the new flight attendants will be hired as staff of Aero, whose employees are paid less than those of Finnair.
      Koskenniemi feels that such a move would be a "blatant violation of the labour contract and the whole labour market system".
      "It would be quite extraordinary for an employer to circumvent a labour contract through a foreign company. It is completely reprehensible in this contract society."
      Finnair refuted the accusations, insisting that it follows the labour contract to the letter.
     
The labour contract for flight attendants has had separate stipulations for Finnair cabin crew, who get higher pay than the national contract requires.
      Now Finnair wants to implement the rules of the national contract on new cabin crew, which would mean that they would be paid 30 percent less.
      Finnair's contract gives flight attendants a basic starting pay of EUR 1,281 a month. The national contract sets minimum monthly pay at EUR 1,124.
      In addition to this come various bonuses for factors such nighttime work and work on Sundays, all of which raise pay by 30 to 50 percent.
     
Finnair said on Tuesday that it hopes to hire more than 600 new flight attendants and pilots to deal with the company's expanding long-haul services. Of these, 200 are to be former fixed-term employees, for whom the proposed arrangement would amount to a pay cut.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnair to cut pay for new cabin crew (24.8.2006)

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