No KLM jobs moving to Paris: Sec. Mansveld

Air France-KLM will not be transferring any jobs from the KLM office in Amstelveen to its own headquarters in Paris. CEO Alexandre de Juniac issued this guarantee during a conversation with State Secretary Wilma Mansveld (Infrastructure) at a summit in Paris, the Volkskrant reports.

De Juniac also reaffirmed guarantees to the Dutch government regarding KLM's international network of destinations and Schiphol's position as an aviation hub, Mansveld told ANP after the meeting.

The parallel running collective bargaining did not seem to have such positive results. KLM wanted to reach an agreement with the unions at all costs yesterday, so that the company can implement its 700 million euro cutback operation. The meeting started around 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning and by 20:30 last night there was still no prospect of an agreement.

KLM wants to cut labor costs by 10 percent in the next 5 years. The company will only be able to avoid compulsory redundancies if the unions agree. Without the unions' agreement, the management can not make significant new investments in the company.

Union FNV wants a structural wage increase, despite KLM's demand for a wage cut. Other unions such as CNV and VNV are willing to accept KLM's proposed baseline for at least 18 months and austerity measures of the working conditions, in return for participation in the company and share. Demands that KLM did not want to meet, according to a spokesperson for VNV.