Air traffic controllers in Belgium had threatened to strike from Thursday, which could have shut down the country's airspace, but an agreement was reached late on Wednesday night which means that actions are now off the table.
Labour negotiations between air traffic controller Skeyes and the three unions produced an agreement on Wednesday after a day of negotiations. Trade union action which would see the entire Belgian airspace being shut off from Thursday is thus off the table for the time being.
"Passengers can rest assured. After tough negotiations, a temporary agreement has been reached between the unions and Skeyes," Kurt Callaerts of the Christian union ACV Transcom told Belga News Agency. The agreement will be submitted to the joint committee on Friday.
"With this, actions around the issue of scheduling are off the table for the time being, if everyone fulfils their commitments and a hand to the team is taken immediately."
Addressing issues
In September, the three unions at air traffic controller Skeyes submitted a strike notice over their dissatisfaction with the staff scheduling mechanism. The notice was scheduled to end on Thursday 5 October. A second meeting in the reconciliation process had not yielded any results on Monday, raising fears that unions would proceed with strike actions.
Air traffic staff has argued that their work-life balance is under threat from the increased pressure. Controllers are also having to work more hours with less rest time due to ongoing staff shortages following the Covid-19 pandemic.
One air traffic controller argued that such practices endanger air traffic, and thus passengers on aeroplanes, as controllers start their shifts tired and are at risk of making mistakes.
Unions and management met again at 09:00 on Wednesday morning, with an "agreement" reached yesterday evening. According to the union, a number of issues will be addressed immediately around holiday schedules, standby shifts and nights, among others.
