The KV negotiations between the WKO and the Vida union have failed. There is considerable criticism of the union's behavior. Now almost 600 jobs are in acute danger.

Despite a massively improved offer from the Lauda management and the deletion of numerous controversial clauses, the Vida union refused to sign the collective agreement after a 14-hour marathon of negotiations. It is particularly spicy that the works councils of the airlines Level and Austrian Airlines also made this decision. It should also be noted that Level has no collective agreement at all, as its management strictly refuses to respond to Vida’s demands.

In a broadcast, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the management of the Lauda airline had significantly improved the offer, but that the Vida union had rejected it. “This means that 500 jobs and the livelihood of hundreds of employees will be lost at the Vienna base. The value chain associated with flight operations is permanently damaged. It is noteworthy that in the negotiations the company would have increased the guaranteed annual payment amount for the flight attendants' starting salaries by more than 30 percent. The decision of Vida is also incomprehensible because the vast majority of the workforce would have accepted the new KV even without rework, ”said the WKO.

Two captains took part in the negotiations for the airline Lauda, ​​although they are said to have received calls from the union before the negotiations. It was suggested not to participate in these. Probably also that does not make it public that presumably biased works councils of competitors decide under the guise of an alleged functionary activity in the union about the future of nearly 600 jobs with a competitor.

Works councils from Level and Austrian Airlines also decided

Lauda captain Thomas Gurgiser and captain Claudia Harold-Blum took part on behalf of almost 600 employees of the Chamber of Commerce in advisory and witness functions. As a team, Vida provided Daniel Liebhart, Philip Gastinger, the level works council member Philip Hudelist and the AUA works council member Anton Fuszko. The Chamber of Commerce was not previously notified of the presence of works councils from competitors. "Work yourself in a company whose management refuses to sign a collective agreement because Vida has utopian ideas, but when it comes to competitors, are you so at ease that you can send 600 people out onto the streets?" Lauda team upset.

Lauda boss David O'Brien and his colleague Andreas Gruber were able to achieve that the financial offer, especially for the junior flight attendants, was not only massively improved at their parent company Ryanair, but also that the company made a binding commitment to the payment of minimum basic salaries are even higher than those currently being paid has committed. These flow even if not a single flight hour is flown. The clauses criticized by the Vida union were also improved, and according to the negotiating team, this was entirely in line with the union's wishes.

The commitment including the improved salaries of the junior flight attendants including the signatures of David O'Brien and Andreas Gruber:

According to the Lauda captain, the negotiations should not have been just a downright farce, because none of the improvements could get the Vida officials to agree. They should have discussed about three hours alone and left both the Chamber of Commerce and the Lauda captains waiting. In between, it was even alleged that the employer had sent confidential information. A perfidious attempt to exclude the Lauda captains from the talks. What the Vida officials and the AUA or level works councils did in these three hours is not known.

Lauda captain: "They really laughed at us"

They then re-entered the negotiation room and made demands in the middle of the night, which Lauda captain Gurgiser described as completely unworldly and utopian. Once again, a higher salary was demanded for the junior flight attendants, which, absurdly, was even higher than that of the senior flight attendants. In all previous negotiations there was never any mention of higher pilot salaries, but now in the middle of the night they were demanding around 500 euros more wages for co-pilots. Additional diets, which were also not mentioned before, were made a condition of the signature. The way in which this was "presented" was described by the employers' team as downright "making fun of us" and again the word "condescending" was used.

“In the last few weeks I have worked hard to keep our jobs and we have succeeded in moving our company to massive improvements. The junior flight attendant wages would have risen massively compared to the original draft and the company was ready to forego the controversial clauses completely and to commit to significantly higher minimum salaries, namely guaranteed minimum salaries that you get even if you don't fly for a second . All of that was not enough for the Vida, ”said Captain Thomas Gurgiser, disappointedly in a phone call with Aviation.Direct. "What can I say? My colleague and I were downright laughed at by the Vida officials. It's just incredible, but in our opinion the Vida union never had the slightest intention of signing a new Lauda collective agreement. They really got us going, and works councils from Level and Austrian Airlines made decisions about my job and that of almost 600 colleagues. And they destroyed it, just to make an example. In my opinion, the works councils of competitors are not impartial. It's just scandalous what Vida did there. A farce from A to Z. "

Ryanair gave the green light for higher wages at Lauda

The fact that Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has really given in and given up his hard line with regard to wages has certainly come as a surprise to Vida. It is presumed that the latter did not expect a massively improved offer that was submitted via the Chamber of Commerce. “What do we have a union for? They stood up for us zero point. They formed a regular tribunal, but they did not fulfill their task as a union, ”said Gurgiser, who is himself a member of Vida. “From the very top at Ryanair, there was an absolute willingness to come to an agreement, so that we can go home with a new collective agreement and secure jobs. Dublin has dealt with everything and the Lauda employees would have got damn good conditions. But Vida prefers to send us out on the streets in the middle of the crisis. "

The news of the failure of the KV negotiations and the associated closure of the Vienna base, including almost 600 additional unemployed people who, due to a lack of available jobs, will "end up" immediately at the labor market service, was received very negatively by those affected. In internal WhatsApp and Telegram groups, the anger at the Vida union can be felt very clearly. Publicity campaigns are also to be planned and mass withdrawals from the union were also discussed. One employee wrote: “I can no longer afford Vida membership with the AMS money. And what did that bring me? That I no longer have a job. "

A piquant detail on the side: In Dublin, it was clearly expected that a deal could be reached thanks to the improved offer and quite a lot of room for negotiation. The group has already started to import numerous routes, which had only been switched to Ryanair (ex foreign bases) last weekend, back to the Airbus A320, operated by the Lauda base in Vienna. The failure of the negotiations was probably not expected. The Chamber of Commerce and Lauda have signed, the Vida union has not. Negotiations failed.

Ryanair wants Austrian Airlines to "make life hell"

How will it go on now? The Lauda management did not want to make a statement yet. You have to literally understand everything what has happened first and will express yourself publicly on Friday morning. However, the closure of the Vienna base today is no longer possible and almost 600 people will lose their jobs. At the beginning of next week, Ryanair will announce a “massive expansion from Vienna” and, as can be heard from Dublin, is targeting Austrian Airlines in particular. The aim is to “make life hell” for the competitor, for whom the Vida union, from Ryanair's point of view, is said to have “got rid of” daughter Lauda. Even words like “they fly into bankruptcy despite state aid with the friendly support of our tariffs, which will be cheaper than ever” were heard from Ryanair employees. And one could not resist a polemical remark “Lauda was way too nice, a website that is in love with Austrian Airlines and specializes in disseminating fake news about Lauda and Ryanair will also get to know us. Very cozy and chilled out in the courtroom ”. All in all, one can deduce from the remarks of a high-ranking Ryanair employee that the group really wants to "avenge" the daughter Lauda in Vienna.

The union could not be reached at night

Vida department chairman Daniel Liebhart was not available to comment after the failed negotiations. Thus it was not possible to present the union's point of view and their motives for refusing to conclude a new collective agreement in this article. However, a media broadcast by the union is to be expected, because the head of public relations is said to have received a briefing on site in the middle of the night.