A union of hostesses and stewards on Thursday demanded measures to prevent the Spanish low-cost airline Volotea from replacing striking employees, during an interim hearing at the Nantes court.
An angry union
The National Union of Commercial Flight Crew (SNPNC) accuses the airline of taking advantage of the obligation for air transport employees to notify their employer of their participation in a strike movement 48 hours in advance to appeal to replacements.
“The specific rules put in place to regulate the right to strike in air transport have a single purpose: that passengers can know which flights will be disrupted. Under no circumstances should they be used to know which employees to replace,” argued SNPNC lawyer Fiodor Rilov.
On strike for a week
On strike in mid-April to protest against “precarious” working conditions and “insufficient” remuneration, the company’s flight personnel renewed the movement from Saturday. “The right to strike is a constitutional right. We must respect it and we respect it. At no time was there a sprain,” argued Volotea lawyer Thomas Fernandez-Boni during the hearing.
According to Me Rilov, the airline, whose head office is in Spain, would also have brought in employees from other countries of the European Union to replace its French staff. “This is a decision that must give rise to a declaration prior to secondment. If there is none, as we suspect, then the staff also works in France illegally, “said the lawyer, referring to” concealed work “.