The Austrian Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion received a hefty fine from the Schwechat District Court for dealing with the works council. The company was sentenced in the first instance - not yet legally binding - to pay a fine of 21.800 euros.

The court order available to Aviation Direct shows that it concerns an incident of September 11th: Several employees have not received a certificate of service after their dismissals. They asked the chairwoman of the works council, Kerstin Hager, to intervene accordingly. The company expelled the employee representative from the site. According to the Schwechat District Court, Lauda should not have done that.

In October 2019, the flying Lauda personnel elected a new works council. The management did not provide the election committee with any personal lists of what they should have done. The Vida union took the view at the time that the Ryanair subsidiary had tried to thwart the election. It was carried out anyway and the employee ID cards on which the entry date can be seen were used for identification. The Lauda management and Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary repeatedly called the election illegal and brought a judicial challenge. This was dismissed by the regional court in Korneuburg. It should also be noted that the Lauda management regularly referred to the chairwoman of the “illegal works council” as “Vida's Puppet”.

The employee representatives and the union repeatedly went to court because of the company's behavior and obtained several injunctions that allow the works councils to gain access to the company premises. That was not only refused by the management, but the employee representatives were thrown out in a double sense: Both physically from the office and one gradually terminated the employment relationships with the works councils, even though they were through a special one Have dismissal protection.

So far, Lauda has not incurred any fines other than legal fees and court costs, but that has now changed: The Schwechat District Court ordered Lauda to pay 21.800 euros - in the first instance, not legally binding. This includes cease and desist enforcement. Lauda disregarded a court order. As is customary in a constitutional state, the company still has legal remedies against the decision of the district court.