KLM ground crew to strike again Wednesday
KLM ground crew employees will strike again on Wednesday, union FNV announced. Like Monday, they will not perform their duties between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
On Monday, around 500 workers of the Dutch airline's ground crew went on strike. This resulted in KLM having to cancel a total of 67 flights, only 11 of which the airline announced in advance.
"After the first strike on Monday morning, no response was yet received from KLM. That is why will will continue with the next action on Wednesday", FNV director Jan van den Brink said on Monday, NU.nl reports.
The ground crew are striking for better working conditions. The unions demand a wage increase of 8 percent over two years, a less flexible schedule, and for KLM to employ more if its ground crew workers on a permanent basis. So far KLM only offered a 3 percent wage increase in one year, according to the newspaper.
In a response, KLM said that the new strike is "incomprehensible and unnecessary". "Striking affects the traveler and costs money that we would rather invest in our company and an attractive profit sharing for our employees", the airline said. KLM invited the trade unions for a new collective bargaining meeting this week. Some unions accepted the invitation, others are still considering the most recent proposal.
