THE Ryanair pilots based in Belgium will be in strike the weekend of July 15 and 16announced their professional association, the BeCA (Belgian Cockpit Association).
They criticize the company for not wanting to respect a collective agreement providing for a number of rest days in exchange for pay cuts granted in 2020 at the time of the Covid-19 crisis. “We are told that the part of the agreement on rest time is null and void, it amounts to not applying labor law“, explained Alain Vanalderweireldt, president of the BeCA. The strike, voted for by 80% of Ryanair’s 180 Belgian pilots, is also supported by the Christian union CNE, which accuses the Irish low cost of “flout» Belgian law.
“We do not expect any major disruptions to our flights to and from Belgium“Reacted the management of Ryanair. For good reason, more than half of Ryanair’s traffic at Charleroi airport (Brussels-South), its base in Belgium, is provided by planes operated by non-Belgian personnel.
“Belgian pilot unions should negotiate rather than strikecommented the management of Ryanair, welcoming the agreements reached with their Italian, Spanish and French counterparts on working conditions. According to the Belgian trade unions, Charleroi is for Ryanair “la second most profitable base of his current 86 bases“. They accuse the Irish company of “thrive on social dumping” and of “create unfair competition” towards the other actors of air transport in Belgium who themselves “comply with the rules“.
