In spring 2020, the Laudamotion managing directors David O'Brien and Andreas Gruber caused a stir about the desired new collective agreement, but immediately after the social partners reached an agreement, the two Ryanair managers suddenly lost interest. The “new collective agreement”, which was blackmailed with a great deal of fuss, was never concluded, the union and the Chamber of Commerce agree.

Review: First of all, the Austrian Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion carried out a veritable soap opera around short-time work and sent various letters in English to members of the government. Among other things, they demanded that the Vida union should be “instructed” to sign the social partner agreement and threatened to go to the European Court of Justice because they felt they had been discriminated against against Austrian Airlines. The ÖGB branch union Vida was discredited as an Austrian Airlines company union. The preliminary end of the soap opera was that Vida signed the agreement and Laudamotion was able to benefit from the short-time work.

Short-time work was simply ended - employees even took to the streets against the union

But David O'Brien and Andreas Gruber took the word “short” literally, because it didn't take long before a new collective agreement was called for. A form was sent to the social partners and if this is not signed, Vienna is shut down and the staff is put out on the street. The next soap opera followed, which even resulted in two demonstrations by Lauda staff against their own union. Ultimately, the social partners agree on a compromise. In the meantime, the short-time work was simply ended and the aircraft were demonstratively flown out. Immediately after the agreement, a letter was once again requested that a form should be signed by 17:00 p.m. Then the Chamber of Commerce burst its collar and allegedly a member of the federal government is said to have spoken "plain text" with laudamotion.

The company's next action was that the employees should give their consent to the new collective agreement within a very short period of time. That wouldn't have been legally necessary at all, but it had a sophisticated background. Those who did not answer "I accept" received the notice a few days later. The primary purpose of this measure was to intervene in individual contracts and to be able to drastically reduce the wages of some pilots with individual contracts. At the same time, it was just right that you could drive through the company with the "iron broom". But the next mistake was made with the terminations: Contrary to the rules of representation in the commercial register, they were only signed by managing director Andreas Gruber. However, he needs the countersignature of David O'Brien for legal documents.

“New KV Laudamotion” was never finalized and never came into force

Although the social partners reached an agreement, which was then sold to the staff as the “new CLA”, contact with the social partners was subsequently lost. There was never a formal formulation of the collective agreement and, according to information from Vida and the Chamber of Commerce, such a contract was never concluded. Specifically, this means that there is no new "KV Laudamotion", but that the "old KV" continues to apply. Exactly this circumstance could cost the successor Lauda Europe Ltd financially dearly.

Laudamotion prevented the fact that there was no new collective agreement, which would have been legally concluded, from not paying on the new wages, which were confirmed with the sword of Damocles "termination" by means of "I accept" emails. From a legal point of view, this procedure is possibly ineffective, as the "old KV Laudamotion" would still have been valid and therefore should have been adhered to. This applies to those employment contracts that were concluded on the basis of the KV. Individuals with individual contracts, who are compulsorily required to have a higher payment than stipulated in the collective agreement, could look through the tube, since with "I accept" they could very likely have blown their claims to the wind.

Even if a new collective agreement had been concluded with legal effect, the successor Lauda Europe Ltd would not be bound by it, as it is a different company. At Laudamotion and Lauda Europe, attempts were made as far as possible to avoid a classic transfer of operations, but there are numerous indications that it was exactly such a transfer. The employees had to agree with "I accept" by email that, for example, from mid-September 2020 their new employer would be Lauda Europe Ltd, based in Malta. This approach could develop into a boomerang, because everything remained pretty much the same for the employees. The wages come from a different checking account, the uniforms, the place of work and even the aircraft in which the service is provided are identical.

If a transfer of business is established, the "old KV Laudamotion" applies to Lauda Europe

As reported, there are labor court actions pending in Germany, Austria and Spain to establish a transfer of operations. In the Alpine republic this is supported and organized by the Chamber of Labor. If a "BÜ" is legally established, Lauda Europe Ltd. "inherits" not only the works council of Laudamotion, which had to laboriously assert itself in court, but also the "old KV Laudamotion". In the opinion of the social partners, this is still valid and in the event of a transfer of business, it also applies to the Austrian staff of Lauda Europe Limited.

The consequence of this is that Lauda Europe staff in Vienna could be entitled to considerably high back wages plus payment according to the Laudamotion collective agreement. It is to be expected that the Ryanair Group will lead the proceedings to the highest court. In comparable cases, for example Austrian Air Services on Tyrolean and Austrian Airlines on Tyrolean, the employer was defeated. Ultimately, however, they gave in and agreed on sensible solutions with the employee side. However, it is not difficult to guess what the Lauda Europe staff in Vienna could do if a legally binding transfer of operations were to be established. Ryanair replaces the operator and provides the next subsidiary to Vienna. However, if the employer side wins, the employees are unlucky.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that in Germany, Austria and Spain, according to the local trade unions, “hundreds” of labor court proceedings are pending. In Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, for example, the courts are currently holding quality and chamber appointments like assembly lines. In the Alpine republic, too, far more than 100 lawsuits are pending before the Korneuburg Regional Court as a labor and social court, or in some cases there are already judgments against Laudamotion GmbH in the first instance.