There are several meters of difference in the pilot negotiations. A SAS strike currently looks inevitable.
SAS is threatened by a large-scale pilot strike. And time is running out. On Friday, the pilots will stop working unless mediators manage to bring together unions and employers, who are currently extremely far apart.
According to the employers' organization Transportföretagen, the pilots' current demands include a 13 percent wage increase. It was originally set at 25 percent. On top of that, the pilots want five days of shorter working hours per year, according to Torbjörn Granevärn, head of negotiations at Transportföretagen for the aviation industry, who does not want to go beyond the wage mark on the Swedish labor market, 2.3 percent.
He feels that the pilots' union is not particularly interested in negotiating
”"It makes me worried given the strong notice that is being given," says Granevärn, pointing out that the average salary of SAS pilots, including bonuses and allowances, is 93,000 kronor per month.".
”It is a well-paid group.”.
But Wilhelm Tersmeden, chairman of the SAS section of the Swedish Pilots' Association, refuses.
”"That's not true. We have a lot of pilots who earn a third of that," he says, claiming that SAS is second to last in the salary league among about 20 airlines, including low-cost companies such as Norwegian, Ryanair, Easyjet and others.".
The main argument in the negotiations for the Swedish Pilots' Association is to catch up after being behind in wages for a number of years when SAS was in crisis. If the employers had maintained the mark all these years, the pilots would have had to demand a 30 percent pay increase, according to Wilhelm Tersmeden.
”"And as long as employers cannot accept to discuss those differences, then I don't see how we will reach a solution," says Tersmeden, who believes that the pilot unions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden are completely united in their demands.
Torbjörn Granevärn understands that the pilots are on that track, that they want to compare themselves with, for example, well-paid airlines in the Middle East.
”But we are based on the Swedish labor market,” he says.
Source: TT
