The temporary employment agency Crewlink, which works for Lauda Europe, did not extend the fixed-term employment contracts of numerous flight attendants who were on duty from Vienna-Schwechat in the last few days. In some cases, those who insisted on the continued operation of the Laudamotion collective agreement are said to have been given immediate exemptions.

At Crewlink you obviously drive with the proverbial "iron broom" through the company and part with those cabin employees who are considered "rebellious". As a personnel leasing company, one would have to apply the collective agreement for temporary workers or, when working at Lauda Europe, that of Laudamotion. The latter is legally tricky.

In the previous year, the Laudamotion management threatened to close the Vienna base if the social partners should not conclude a new collective agreement based on the company's wishes. The employees took to the streets twice and the Airbus A320, which was still registered in Austria at the time, even took off in a demonstrative way. After the social partners had agreed on a key points paper, the management asked the workforce to agree. Those who refused to do so received the notice of termination shortly afterwards.

Lawsuits pending regarding the continuation of the KV

According to the Vida union, the “new Laudamotion collective agreement” was not finally concluded. The Chamber of Commerce has also heard that the contact has suddenly been broken off, so that the formal conclusion has not taken place. In summer 2020 it was announced that Laudamotion will be closed and the Maltese successor Lauda Europe will take over. The bases in Stuttgart and Düsseldorf were closed and all employees were parted ways at the same time. In Vienna, the switch to Lauda Europe was used to part with other employees. The Laudamotion collective agreement should, however, continue to apply, but has not been applied since at least June 2021. In this context, lawsuits are pending in Austria, Germany and Spain that would result in a transfer of operations to Lauda Europe Ltd. should determine.

At Crewlink, the collective agreement was no longer adhered to at an early stage, which the Laudamotion management at the time had made no secret of. This was considered to be inapplicable. The union naturally sees it differently and pointed out that both the KV for temporary workers and that of Laudamotion GmbH are applicable. The courts will have to decide on the possible continued effect, as lawsuits are already pending.

Lauda Europe compensates Crewlink with new flight attendants

The temporary employment agency has only concluded temporary contracts from the start. Depending on the position, these are limited to six, twelve or 18 months. One passage states that there is no entitlement to an extension. Crewlink, whose employees are on short-time work, does not grant this and allows the contracts to expire. Particularly "rebellious" employees are completely released from duty straight away. These are not dismissals without notice.

Lauda Europe is taking care of the replacement itself, as there are currently numerous training courses for new flight attendants. Specifically, this means that the non-renewals are compensated for with new direct jobs via Crewlink. This procedure has the consequence that the newcomers enter the lowest seniority levels and are therefore more cost-effective for the company than those who already have previous experience via Crewlink. Lauda Europe currently only practices this at its Vienna location.

At the future bases in Zagreb and Zadar, the Maltese Ryanair subsidiary continues to rely on temporary work, because Crewlink is currently actively contacting former flight attendantsthat were previously used for Laudamotion from Düsseldorf. They will be offered a job in Croatia and the corresponding training will start in April 2021. Nothing is currently known about the amount of the payment.