Strike with Air France: the chairman resigns after the rejection of a company agreement

Staffs of Air France rejected to 55.44% the wage draft agreement submitted to the vote by the president of Air France, Jean–Marc Janaillac, announces this Friday the direction of the airline company.

Jean–Marc Janaillac announced Friday his resignation after the rejection by the employees of a wage settlement suggested by the direction to try to put an end to a long strike movement.

“I assume the consequences of this vote and I will give in the next days my resignation to the Boards of directors of Air France and Air France–KLM”, Mr. Janaillac vis–a–vis the journalists declared, by regretting a “immense waste which can only delight our competitors, weaken our alliances and confuse our teams”.

Staffs of Air France rejected to 55.44% the wage draft agreement. Rate of participation amounted to 80.33% among the 46,771 employees of Air France (under French contract) invited to answer the question: “To allow a positive exit the conflict in progress, be you favorable to the wage settlement suggested on April 16th, 2018?”.

Vis–a–vis a strike movement which lasts for ever since February, the direction had launched a consultation on April 26th by electronic way on its draft agreement. It envisages over the period 2018–2021 “of wage general increases of 7% over four years, being added to the individual increases”. A consultation which, according to the trade unions, was going nothing to solve.

In the morning, the Air France–KLM group had announced a net loss of 269 million euros in the first quarter, marked by three days of strike (February 22nd, March 23rd and 30th).

The first eleven days cost of strike is estimated at “300 million euros” is a little more than 25 million per day for the group which envisages right now a turnover in 2018 “in noticeable decrease compared to 2017”, where it had reached 1.9 billion euros.

The union representatives strikers questioned by AFP are happiness of the result of the consultation. “Everyone felt concerned” with the vote and “the employees were not easily deceived” commented on Jérôme Beaurain of South–Air. The trade union confirms in addition that the strike notice for May 7th and 8th is maintained.

The inter–union one joining together organizations of pilots (SNPL, Spaf, Alter), hostesses and stewards (SNPNC, UNSA–PNC, CFTC, SNGAF) and ground staffs (CGT, FO and SOUTH), claims his “share of the cake” after the solid results recorded by the group in 2017. She asks 5.1% of increase in two times in 2018 (+3.8% in April and +1.3% in October) under a “correction” necessary, after six years of freezing of the wage grids.

The direction regards these claims as a reconsideration of the made efforts these last years to make up for lost time of competitiveness of the company, always confronted with a very strong competition of the companies of the Gulf, but also in Europe with aggressive companies low–cost.

CFDT estimates for its part that the departure of the chairman “forecasts one turbid period” for the Company and fears “a serious attack of governance whose Air France does not have the means.”

A board of directors is envisaged on May 9th.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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