Tui pilots are fighting for protection against dismissal

Tui pilots are fighting for protection against dismissal

Because of the stalled crisis negotiations with Tuifly, the pilots are pressing for an arbitration. "Time is of the essence - the company needs liquidity, and the pilots are ready to make a contribution to the crisis worth EUR 200 million," said Marcel Gröls, who is responsible for collective bargaining policy on the board of directors of the Vereinigung Cockpit union. "In return for these substantial concessions, we expect sustained protection against dismissal. We have shown it at Lufthansa - the same is certainly possible at Tuifly." Initially, no specific comment was received from the airline of the travel group Tui. A Tuifly spokesman emphasized, however, that discussions on reconciliation of interests and the social plan had already started. Because of the corona crisis, the Tui Group, which was saved with government aid worth billions, wants to cut around 8,000 jobs and reduce its aircraft fleet from 150 to around 120 machines. Tuifly is to reduce its fleet in Germany from 39 to 17 aircraft, and the number of jobs is to be cut in half to around 1,000.

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The management accuses the unions of blocking an agreement in favor of the employees by calling for a waiver of compulsory redundancies. As a result, the pilots have been receiving full pay again since December, but according to Tuifly they sometimes only make around ten percent of their normal flights. According to previous plans, around 270 of the 500 or so pilot jobs are to be canceled. The world's largest travel company Tui is already receiving three billion euros in aid from taxpayers. On Tuesday, the shareholders are to give the green light for another rescue package worth 1.8 billion euros. Around 1.3 billion euros will come from the state and around 500 million euros from a capital increase. With regard to state aid, VC expert Gröls said: "It is only right and fair to avoid layoffs whenever possible, even if, in the worst case, jobs have to be cut." In addition, significantly fewer jobs were lost at other European Tui companies.