An agreement towards a way out of the conflict. The management of Groupe ADP, manager of the Paris airports of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly, signed an agreement on Tuesday to end the conflict with the unions CFE-CGC and Unsa. However, the CGT, one of the three representative unions of the group, “did not sign” this agreement and its strike notice “is maintained for Friday”, told AFP Frédéric Lecocq, his union representative at ADP. .
For management, this “majority agreement”, given the signatures of CFE-CGC and Unsa, is “balanced” and “based on mutual concessions”, told AFP Edward Arkwright, executive director general of the group which also manages Le Bourget airport.
This agreement will make it possible to “get out of the conflict, to bring a certain number of guarantees to the employees”, underlined Edward Arkwright. It “supervises the implementation of the PACT project” (plan to adapt work contracts) and “gives visibility” to employees, he added.
Supervision of reductions in remuneration
The text provides “guarantees on the supervision of reductions in remuneration and their limitation in time” and includes “the waiver of the geographical mobility clause” initially planned, he said.
With this “framework”, employees “are assured that they will not lose more than 5% in 2021 (and) in 2022”, then no more than “4% in 2023”, with “guarantee of recovering their remuneration of 2019 no later than 2024, unconditionally ”. If “the 2019 level” of airport traffic “was found before” 2024, “then this guarantee would apply,” he said.
“It is an agreement that now allows us to focus on welcoming passengers, on preserving the company’s situation and being able to prepare for the challenges that will follow this three-year period and this way out of the crisis” , estimated the executive director general of the group.
Limited salary moderation
The Unsa noted for its part that this “end-of-strike protocol will not meet all (its) demands”. But “it will allow the limitation of wage moderation and cancel the geographical mobility clause provided for in the PACT project, among others”, reacted to AFP Laurent Garssine, secretary general of Unsa at ADP.
Calling on employees to strike and demonstrate on several occasions in June and July, the CFE-CGC, CGT and Unsa d’ADP unions had jointly demanded the withdrawal of the PACT which provides for a reduction or elimination of premiums. In the event of refusal to modify their employment contract, employees risk dismissal via a job protection plan (PSE).
It was on July 2 that the impact of the strike was strongest on air traffic: flights had been delayed by an average of one hour at Roissy and fifteen minutes at Orly. Last Friday, the movement was marked by the arrest of several union officials in Orly, during a demonstration, before being released. But the strike had no impact on traffic, apart from a few delayed flights. Saturday, the last day of the strike call, traffic was normal.
Management considers the PACT necessary to achieve savings while the Covid-19 pandemic has plagued air transport and the activity of the group, which is majority owned by the State. Faced with this crisis, the management had signed in December, with the three representative unions, an agreement of collective termination (RCC) providing for 1,150 departures of employees in 2021, including 700 not replaced.