Finnair to hire 210 strike-breakers in Spain
 

Spanish media reported this week that Finnair is planning to hire over 200 cabin crew from Adecco (temporary employment agency) possibly "to replace company staff in special situations". The FA will be available on 1 November, to work for Finnair in case of need. Currently Finnair employs about 60 cabin crew in Spain, 40 covering the Madrid and Barcelona scheduled flights and the other 20 in leisure flights to Canary Islands.

The article in Spanish includes a video in which the responsible of crew of Finnair (Sami Sievä) explains that they will work in case of strike. If they are not required they will earn 1200€ as a compensation for their availability during 3 months. Apparently hiring employees to minimize the impact of a strike is illegal in Spain.

Link to the article in Spanish:
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/0...379677923.html

Link to the press release of the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (in English):
http://www.sttk.fi/en-GB/readnews/ne...ers-from-spain

I read about this in Finnish newspapers too.... I certainly frown upon such actions and I personally will not buy ANY finnair flights if they endup doing this! Everyone of course is free to choose for themselves :)

Is there any regulation in Finnish labour law regarding this?


I am a bit torn on the issue. As a flying customer I cannot say I am sad that Finnair is preparing so that I can fly on the tickets I buy.

As far as I understand, not really. It is probably a breach of collective bargaining agreement but if we are talking a typical strike that is after the agreement has expired it wouldn't matter either.

But I very much doubt using strike breakers would work. First it would make FAs' union people quite mad and make negotiations much harder. Also if the strike breaking actually keeps planes flying, other unions would probably start supporting labor actions and ground the planes. Supporting strikes could be illegal but Finnish labor law doesn't allow punishing employees taking part of any kind of organized strike or similar labor action, legal or illegal. The organizing union would get a fine, but they are relatively small.

I also think the idea of using the Spanish FAs as strike-breakers wouldn't work, because the baggage handlers etc. would most probably stage enough wildcat strikes to severely disrupt AY's operations in the case of a FA strike.

I view this is as flexing muscles by the AY towards the unions in preparation for the wage negotiations. "Look how much we are willing pay to have these people in reserve. Getting labour costs down (per km etc.) is important for us."

Really terrible, but I wonder if Finnair is the only one with taking such actions?

While I personally dont believe in engaging in this kind of actions, I think there is some fresh spirit in Finnair management.

This looks quite feasible strategy to try to wry the union out of the position. Total pricetag for this action is 240k€ (200 *1.2k€), which is comparable for 6 FA salaries per year. I dont believe that it will be working though and I certainly dont think that Finnair will ever use these guys in full scale.

They also send the McD-style booklet earlier, to open the discussion up early enough.
http://www.hs.fi/talous/a1377147852705

So, the only question now is that when does the strike start and how long does it last. The only flight I´m worried is 28.10, the rest I have already transferred to SAS due to possibility of this strike.

Does anyone remember when did the previous strikes start?

Are these Spanish really meant for strike-breaking? Or is this just publicity game the FA union (SLSY) is building? Yes sure, Finnair has hired Adecco to hire staff but all the news seem to look at this on one side and one side only. Just asking. I don't have the facts. Someone does? I don't have an agenda here.

The head lawyer from SAK (one of the biggest labour unions) has considered the info booklet basically a good thing and this as a wide negotiation strategy and spreading info positive.
http://www.hs.fi/politiikka/a1377230119099

According to El Mundo, these employees are for temporary staff shortage situations. Also the contract length is 3 months, starting from the November. Incidentally the agreement with unions is due about this time. Of course it is not completely sure that this is the reason why Finnair is hiring the breakers, but I dont really see any other reason for this amount of employees to be hired just to wait around.

Finnish translation of the article.
http://www.finlandia.es/public/defau...&culture=fi-FI

I believe AY are also hiring US crew to fully operate the JFK route further bringing pressure on the cabin crew as negotiations approach and when combined with existing foreign crews based in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore etc provide for a sizeable pool of strikebreakers in theory. We all like a good theory!

A new update on this case: Minister slams Finnair Spanish recruitment plan

http://yle.fi/uutiset/minister_slams...t_plan/6862551

Rarely to Spain, but did not mind at all Spanish cabin crew onboard Finnair A321 to BCN and back last week. The service was efficient and friendly. The platinum perks behind the curtain were respected.

BCN has a very nice airport but the "VIP"-lounge is one of the worst, AY is using. Mañana-attitude at its best by the front desk. Offerings are very limited. Filthy bathrooms (or bathroom customers). The worst thing is the "free" wifi. Have to either pay or create a dubious account to a dubious source supplementing e-mail and personal details. Luckily I used one of my spare e-mails, which has been filling with personalised spam after that.

Sharklasers.com is perfect for those occasions