THE HAGUE – The Dutch government on Saturday suspended plans to help struggling national airline KLM with a multibillion-euro bailout after unions refused to sign a deal involving a five-year salary reduction plan
The move puts the future of the Dutch branch of Air France-KLM at risk, with KLM saying it would not stay afloat without a massive government infusion to save the world’s oldest airline, now harshly affected by the coronavirus pandemic
« Planned state aid does not pass It is disappointing but it is, » Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra told reporters after talks with KLM
« It’s really important now that everyone takes responsibility and realizes that KLM is in an existential crisis, » said the minister
The Dutch cabinet decision follows a day of intensive discussions between KLM and its unions to try to reach a deal on the bailout deal, which Hoekstra said would only pass if the airline joined a number of strict cost reduction measures
The minister gave KLM and the unions representing pilots, cabin crew and ground crew on Saturday until 12:00 (11:00 GMT) to sign the agreement to release the second tranche of the 34 billion injection euros
While talks are still ongoing with several unions, Dutch pilots’ union VNV has refused to sign what it called a ‘last minute’ change to the terms of the deal
The bitter feud revolves around a clause in the deal that asks struggling airline staff to agree to pay cuts for the next five years
KLM presented the austerity plan to the finance ministry this week, which demands a 15% cut in costs and will see 5,000 jobs cut due to the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic on transport aerial
It also included a union deal to cut pilot wages until March 2022 and ground and cabin crew wages until early 2023
But Hoekstra rejected the plan on Friday, insisting the pay cuts were concomitant with the government’s five-year bailout
« We had a deal with KLM on October 1 and now they (the government) are sending it back, » said the representative, who declined to be named
Talks are also underway with the umbrella union FNV which accused the government of « creating great uncertainty with changes at the 11th hour »
« We do not understand why KLM and the cabinet are demanding additional engagement at the last minute, » FNV said in a statement to AFP
Some 3,000 airline pilots are said to be the hardest hit by the austerity plan, with pay cuts of up to 20%, Dutch media say
Other unions, however, signed the deal, including the cabin crew union and the aerospace technician union, saying keeping KLM in flight was the top priority
« We are looking at the bottom of the barrel, » Robert Swankhuizen, president of the Netherlands Union of Aerospace Technicians (NVLT) told private television channel RTL Nieuws
In a statement, KLM said the airline was « in its worst crisis in its 101 years »
« It is all the more regrettable that it was not possible today to get all unions to sign the ‘commitment clause’ by the end of October, » said the director KLM General, Pieter Elbers
« This was the last step required for cabinet approval Without this loan, KLM will not go through this difficult time, » Elbers said, adding that « this makes this deadlock extremely worrying »
Air France-KLM recorded a net loss of 17 billion euros ($ 1.9 billion) for the third quarter, compared to a profit of 363 million euros for the same period last year
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KLM, Air France – KLM, bailout, government, salary
News from the world – FR – KLM 34 billion bailouts in crisis as unions refuse reduction plan
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
