Cargolux: LCGB union action ‘illegal’

Cargolux Airlines said 76 percent of its flights were operating normally despite the Luxembourg LCGB union beginning a 24-hour warning action against the airfreight carrier.    Airfreight carrier Cargolux Airlines has called a 24-hour warning action by Luxembourg’s LCGB union against the company “illegal.”
   “LCGB’s unlawful industrial action and its ongoing negative campaign against Cargolux are based on misleading statements, deceiving not only the public but also Cargolux’s employees and LCGB’s own members,” the airline said in a statement.
   The LCGB union has began its 24-hour warning action against Cargolux Airlines early on Thursday, but Cargolux said that 73 percent of its pilots still reported to work and 76 percent of its flights would operate normally.
   “The LCGB action is illegal,” said Cargolux. “There is a valid Collective Work Agreement in place, with the parties actively negotiating towards a new agreement; and there is no dispute where non-conciliation has been declared. With its action, LCGB is in breach of its obligation to refrain from any act that could compromise the loyal execution of the collective agreement. Earlier today, a court ordered the immediate stoppage of the action.”
   Cargolux said it would claim compensation for any harm done by the union action should it result in the disruption of its business based on the court order.
   LCGB is claiming workplace safety issues and culture as justification for its warning action, which prompted a response from Cargolux’s Head of Aviation Safety Mattias Pak.
   “Regarding LCGB’s accusation in respect to safety culture and its mentioned examples, I would like to clarify some issues,” Pak said in a statement. “Cargolux’s internal process calls for a structured investigation to be done in case of an event. For the wing wave, the Aviation Safety Department issued a full ICAO Annex 13 Type investigation even though neither the FAA/NTSB nor the Luxembourgish authorities categorized it as such severe. The final report was presented to the Luxembourg Civil Aviation Authority (DAC) and accepted. Employee representatives were also debriefed on the report and acknowledged it. All recommendations of the report were accepted by the responsible departments and implemented.
   “Additionally, during a process of more than one year, a Just Culture policy was created following industry standards. During this process, delegation members were part of the team and a joint agreement was achieved last year. The policy became effective on January 1st, 2015 – 11 months ahead of the EU requirement of having a Just Culture policy in place. In order to enhance the Just Culture process, during the last month, the composition of the Event Review Group (ERG) has been discussed internally and it was agreed that front line personnel would become a part of this group in the near future.”