The county court in Zagreb has temporarily blocked a planned strike by Croatia Airlines' staff which was due to begin this morning and affect some 70% of all flights. The court, which is considering the case brought forward by the carrier's management, found that the strike would cause considerable damage to the airline. It has temporarily blocked industrial action and will continue to debate the legality of the strike tomorrow, after which it could either lift or retain the embargo. Two of Croatia Airlines' unions representing pilots, cabin crew and mechanics were due to stage a walk out from 06.00 this morning, unhappy with the proposed terms of the new collective agreement and the carrier's management. It previously cancelled two strikes in hope of reaching a deal.
Croatia Airlines was today due to operate just 22 international and domestic flights, which would have affected some 5.000 passengers. According to the management, the strike would have resulted in a loss of over 800.000 euros per day. It further accused unions of having unreasonable demands, noting that it would have to fork out an additional 7.1 million euros per year in order to meet their requirements for increased pay, extra holiday leave and fixed contracts for a number of staff members. For their part, the unions say the management has done nothing to negotiate the terms of the new collective agreement to replace the one which expired twenty months ago and has offered no compromise. Attempts to break the stalemate between the two sides were made on Monday night but ultimately failed.
The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure sent a letter to Croatia Airlines' staff on Monday evening, warning them of grave consequences their strike action would have on the carrier and Croatia as a whole. "Croatia Airlines is a company of great importance and is in the process of seeking a strategic partner, in line with the government's plans. The carrier is in the midst of a significant investment cycle which includes funding for fleet maintenance which is very expensive and is valued in the tens of millions of dollars", Mr Butković said. He added, "The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2016, however, its terms have been extended until further notice so as to secure the economic and social interests of all employees".
The Minister warned that the strike could lead to a complete collapse of Croatia's air transportation network. "The strike would affect between 5.000 and 6.500 passengers per day. mostly foreigners who would be unable to return to their countries of origin or arrive to Croatia for their holidays. Croatia Airlines would be obliged to pay for their accommodation and alternative transport, which would be impossible to secure during the summer as all hotels are at full capacity and other airlines are booked out", Mr Butković said. He noted, "Accumulating passengers at local airports, especially those on the coast, would lead to a complete collapse of Croatia's air transport, which would impact other sectors of the economy as well". The Minister said the unions are unreasonable in their demands and are acting carelessly and recklessly.
UPDATE: Court delays ruling on the legality of the strike until Thursday.
Comments
This was fully expected. You can't run a company with unhappy employees.
maybe i am getting old and more conservative, but for once i am not on the side of the unions
as long as we are talking about the unions it is useful to keep in mind that JU's management worked hard to weaken the unions and has succeeded for the most part.
This could never happen in France or Germany, because they are really EU, not this pseudo-EU.
A court in Europe that decides what rights workers shall have and what will go down the drain... Sweet Jesus in a chicken basket.
But at least some fanboys will be happy because the numbers will not go down and will still be of use in the internet battlefield.
OU's survival is absolutely not vital for Croatia's economy. The economy can and will survive without OU - which also can and will survive one strike.
This strike causes panic attacks only among fanboys. You guys really need to try and understand that the OU staff have a legal RIGHT to go on strike. That right is guaranteed by a goddamn CONSTITUTION, related acts, as well the regulation of the EU that you all love so much except when workers' rights are being applied - then you suddenly switch to vocabulary and methods of colonial managers and military commanders in Africa.
Really? Then we obviously have the wrong government in charge! Petre, ne lupetaj, molim te!
"...If pilots are unhappy - they should find themselves another company that could finance the improved standard of living, there are plenty of openings for pilots, especially in Asia..."
Shame on you for saying this, people are already leaving Croatia, a country with basically no industry left, but only tourism addiction!
We will also not agree there was anything smart in this decision, simply because it is an illegal decision. The role of courts in a democratic society is not to strip people off their guaranteed rights in the name of 'higher causes' (defined by politicians and fanboys). The role of courts is to protect these rights - Croatian courts instead violate them. The Communist Party of China will for sure be super happy with this case study on how the government effectively controls courts.
In this case, I apologize on behalf of our legal system and court, for disappointing you our dear neighbours ;)
Until the right to go on strike is properly outlawed, you may wish to less imagine cataclysmic scenes and spend some time learning about the rights guaranteed by law.
Otherwise, this kind of stuff can only happen in countries such as Poland, Hungary and Croatia, which are EU states in name only. The rule of law, and judicial independence don't exist in those illiberal democracies.
Finally, some common sense! Bravo, Michael!
And the small to middle size airlines (mostly from ex communist countires) simply do not have any part to play in this game. It's all about politics: Malev went bankrupt for illegal state aid, Adria was given another chance when they did the very same thing (Slovene government of course had to assure Merkle that JP will be privatized ASAP - as it was). On the other hand Germans gave Air Berlin 150 million euros of state aid, in order to conduct an 'orderly bankruptcy'.
EU will slowly become a five airline union.
In fact, it seems like someone called someone and got it arranged.
We're such a banana country.
http://hr.n1info.com/a322033/English/NEWS/Analyst-Strike-will-kill-Croatia-Airlines.html
Just increase their salaries and let them live a decent life. Should this happen, the overall service will be improved a lot.
Increase the pilot salaries, please!
I remember the famous ATC strike in the US some 30 years ago or so - that was banned by Ronald Reagan, the US president at that time. ATC workers were state employees and while they were allowed to have unions fighting and negotiating for their rights, they had no right to go on a strike and harm national interests (such as shutting down air transport in the country). Reagan ordered them not to strike, some 70% or 80% of ATCs still went on strike and were all fired and all received a live long ban to work as ATC.
If the US has such stringent laws, then i find it very possible that there are similar laws in other countries, also in Europe.
Kada bi OU piloti radili kao piloti Austrian-a ( ili LH ili. .. u EU), OU bi mogla isti red letenja ostvariti sa jednim avionom i pripadajućim posadama manje.
To znaju sve uprave OU i piloti.
Ako sada traže još veće plaće za još manji rad po uvjetima koji traže u novom "kolektivnom", onda je to reketarenje i kolektivna ludost.
Izlaz je da ako OU piloti pristanu raditi kao OS kolege, da im se to povećanje rada razmjerno i plati.
Izvini ali nisi bas u pravu, tj. jesi samo djelimicno. Kanadska federalna a najcesce provincijske vlade mogu (i cesto to urade) natjeraju radnike da zavrse strajk i vrate se nazad na posao. Ovo se radi tako sto vlada izadje sa tzv "back to work legislation" i to se radi relativno rijetko i samo za nesto sto legalno mogu karakterisati kao "esential service" kao sto su npr. medicinske sestre, vatrogasci, gradski prevoz itd. ja se ne sjecam da je ikad i jedna privatna kompanije prosla kroz ovaj proces.
Problem je stosvako pa i sinidkati mogu ici kroz sudski sistem da barem uspore implementaciju takvog zakona i zbog toga su uslovi pod kojim se radnici vracaju nazad na posao vrlo cesto veoma povoljni po njih i obicno se smatraju kao pobjeda sindikata
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/faq-back-to-work-legislation-1.1000525
Btw today I heard that Volotea might be launching 2x MRS-ZAG from December 18.
https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-bans-widening-of-airport-strike/a-15774601
On the other hand there is nothing preventing government to suggest a new law to the parliament that prevents any further OU strike. They can probably even pass it in short period of time if they declare it as emergency law (usually there is a such way that circumvents public consultation). Does it have the majority to pass such a law and would that law be in contradiction with other existing laws or even worse country's constitution is entirely different question.
"In 2014, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed that no public servants, independent of their occupation, had the right to go on strike. According to the constitution, they fulfill special tasks in the name of the state and are in a "loyal work relationship" with their employer, which is why they cannot protest by walking off the job."
Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/26/why-unions-are-furious-about-the-blocked-sydney-train-strike
"On Friday the FWC’s deputy commissioner, Jonathan Hamberger, ordered the suspension of the 24-hour action slated for Monday and the continuing overtime ban, saying it was “threatening to endanger the welfare of part of the population” and “threatening to cause significant damage to the Australian economy or an important part of it”."
Are these two illiberal democracies as well?
"In 2014, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed that no public servants, independent of their occupation, had the right to go on strike. According to the constitution, they fulfill special tasks in the name of the state and are in a "loyal work relationship" with their employer, which is why they cannot protest by walking off the job."
Whoops!
Math seems logical.
The only example you mention that has any relevance to this subject is that 2015. court decision in Karlsruhe about the Lufthansa pilots specifically, that went all the way to the Constitutional Court, which confirmed it. And that is literally one case. One. You rephrasing sentences as to give impression that that is something happening on a regular basis, doesn't change the fact that you are talking about one case. One case in which the court ruled in favor of Lufthansa based on the LAW. I guess it also slipped your attention that the case, ONE case in question, happened in the context of an already lasting strike -- the 13th in 18 months. And just one of the 13 had been struck down.
Now you want to compare that to Croatia, where dispite the strike being legal, the court is essentially acting as an arm of the government, without taking law into consideration at all, and without any explanation for this decision. In fact, it was a government minister who was giving the explanation of the court decision. That's beyond farse. It's a perfect, tragicomic illustration of the situation in the country in general. I only hope the miracle happens, the judges sleep on it and the court decides to after all uphold the law and the separation of power and allow the strike to legally proceed tomorrow.
Hrvatski menadzment kompanije je u totalnom zastoju jos od 2013 godine, jos uvjek nije donesena odluka za nabavku NEO motora za buduci Airbus320 i predugo se ceka neka vrsta pomoci inostranih avio i ostalih ekspeta iz bivsih Juoslovenskih republika.nadamose da ce biti sve dobro u buducnosti.