Pilots reject CAO proposal

3 May 2007

BRUSSELS- Pilots at Brussels Airlines rejected a proposed collective labour agreement by a large majority on Wednesday.

Almost three-quarters of the pilots took part in the vote over the past weeks and 82.2 percent of them voted “no” to the agreement, according to Anita Van Hoof of the socialist trade union.

Time will tell what the result of this failure to reach agreement and the recent threat of a strike will be. A meeting between the unions and Etienne Davignon, president of the airline, was planned for today.

“We await the outcome of that meeting and then we’ll see,” Van Hoof said.

“We must acknowledge that this is a devastating answer from our following. But we must also take on our responsibility and see how we can tackle the problems,” said Jan Coolbrandt of the Christian trade union.

The unions say that the CAO was rejected mainly because the pilots are being asked to work harder without adequate compensation. Nor do the pilots have confidence in the company’s leadership anymore, Coolbrandt said, “so something also has to be done structurally to prevent us stumbling from crisis to crisis in this new company.”

A draft accord was reached with cabin personnel last month.

Subject: Belgian news