SWISS pilots march for better working conditions

The pilots' union has launched a ballot on a strike in October © Keystone / Alexandra Wey

Pilots at Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) have marched through Kloten, home of Zurich Airport, in the fight for a better collective labour agreement.

“Quality needs good working conditions,” read one protest sign on Thursday. “Saving on staff leads to dissatisfied customers,” read another.

Around 350 pilots, all wearing yellow Aeropers union waistcoats and many carrying protest signs, marched to SWISS’s headquarters at 1pm.

The new collective labour agreement for pilots has been the subject of intensive negotiations since last autumn. The SWISS management rejected a first contract in February, then at the end of July the Aeropers members clearly rejected an existing draft.

The union is demanding clear concessions from SWISS management. “The needs of the pilots must be recognised and met,” it said in a statement. Among other things, it added, improvements are finally needed in the planning of social life and financial perspectives. “Additional counter-demands by the management are currently absolutely inappropriate.”

Strike threat

The Aeropers pilots’ union has meanwhile launched a ballot on a strike. This will last until October 16. If members decide in favour of industrial action, a strike is threatened from October 17. The pilots have repeatedly stressed that they would prefer a solution at the negotiating table.

On Thursday morning, before the protest march, it was announced that SWISS had offered the Aeropers board three appointments with its CEO Dieter Vranckx and operational chief Oliver Buchhofer in the coming week. As a condition for negotiations, SWISS is demanding that the pilots refrain from strike action until October 31. The Aeropers board of directors will decide on Friday whether to go ahead with the negotiations.