27th Sep 2018 16:23
Frankfurt/DUBLIN (Alliance News) - German cabin crew are being urged to join a day-long strike targeting Ryanair flights, trade union Verdi said on Thursday.
It called on some 1,000 Ryanair staff to join pilots on a countrywide strike on Friday in support of higher pay and better working conditions at the Dublin-based budget carrier.
"Europe's largest low-cost airline refuses to grant its employees a decent income and a corporate culture free of fear as before," Verdi executive Christine Behle said in Berlin.
Several unions across the EU have called for a strike to halt Ryanair flights. Almost 200 flights have been cancelled as a result.
The company, long known for its opposition to the unionization of its workforce, has faced repeated strike action since the beginning of the year by pilots and cabin crew.
Employees are striking for more pay and better conditions, in line with national law in various countries.
Earlier Thursday, Ryanair marketing head Kenny Jacobs said in Dublin the decision by Germany's Cockpit pilot's union to participate would result in 35 to 45 flights to and from Germany not taking off.
The cancelled flights make up some 10% of the Germany schedule. The Dublin-based budget carrier earlier announced the cancellation of 150 out of 2,400 European flights for the day.
Ryanair chief operations officer Peter Bellew noted that several workers' rallies were planned.
Ryanair employees from Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany are participating in the strike, the second pan-European action to hit the company.
Ryanair has laid a complaint with EU competition authorities alleging that its competitors are behind the coordinated action.
The company expressed disappointment that Germany's VC was joining the strike, noting progress made in talks with VC on Tuesday, including the appointment of a German mediator.
Bellew said Ryanair was keen to strike a deal within six weeks, with a view to concluding conditions and pay contracts by the end of the year.
On Tuesday, the airline said it had signed a new contract with its cabin crew in Italy that will begin on October 1 and run for three years.
In Belgium meanwhile, the CNEtrade union accused Ryanair of acting "irresponsibly" by failing to cancel enough flights on Friday.
Ryanair's behaviour "could create tensions and insecurity for all staff at the airport, at Ryanair and for the passengers concerned," the union said in a statement.
Conditions could be particularly bad at Charleroi, Belgium's main airport for low-cost carriers, where 20,000 airline passengers could be expected on Friday, CNEsaid, warning of potential "chaos."
The European Consumer Organization, BEUC, warned that the strikes could leave many passengers without compensation.
"We call on Ryanair to compensate consumers caught up in the latest wave of mass cancellations according to EU passenger rights rules," said Monique Goyens of BEUC, arguing that many passengers had no "realistic option to defend their rights."
By dpa correspondents
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