Trade union CGT, representing Air France ground staff, organised a walk-out on 26 October. The workers are protesting against the cut backs through which Air France aims to reach 5000 voluntary redundancies (10% of the workforce), as reported in the June newsletter. While around 30% of the staff went on strike, no flight cancellations were reported; a number of protesters clashed with Parisian police forces. Air France made known earlier that if negotiations with trade unions fail, it will consider resorting to involuntary redundancies. The airline aims to reduce its costs by 2 billion euro whilst increasing productivity by 20%.
English: http://www.dw.de/labor-union-calls-strike-on-air-france/a-16311223
http://www.english.rfi.fr/visiting-france/20121026-no-flight-cancellations-reported …
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204598504578082431123787570 …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.