SWISS pilots approve new collective labour agreement

Pilots working for Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) have agreed to a new collective labour agreement finalised after lengthy negotiations between their union Aeropers and SWISS management.

The new collective agreement comes into force retroactively on January 1, 2023, after 87% of union members voted in favour.

“The path has been full of pitfalls, but the new agreement has advantages for both parties,” said Clemens Kopetz, president of Aeropers on Friday. 

“All the urgent problems have not yet been resolved and we will continue our discussions with SWISS management over the next few years on various subjects,” he added.

The two sides had been at loggerheads for months over the terms of the collective work contract.

The airline management terminated the previous agreement with its pilots in February 2021 with effect from the end of March 2022. In autumn 2021, it began negotiations with the pilots, who were unsatisfied with the offers made by their employer. The pilots said the contract would permanently worsen their working conditions.

In September, after having refused an offer from the management considered to be insufficient, the pilots had demonstrated at Kloten airport and threatened to strike.

Swiss and Aeropers finally agreed on the terms of a new collective labour agreement on October 24, which was signed in mid-December.