70

News

International pilot group calls on members to boycott Norwegian

admin
March 6th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Norwegian pilots ask that those that cross picket lines be blacklisted

The international pilots' association IFALPA  is asking all its members to decline the chance to fly for Norwegian in place of the pilots who are currently on strike against the low-cost carrier.

The association's vice president Fanie Coetzee made his group's position clear in a statement sent to the union’s member organisations around the world.

“The number of pilots without permanent contracts is increasing and Norwegian is exploiting this,” read Coetzee’s statement.

Blacklist scabs
The striking Norwegian pilots have asked IFALPA to blacklist pilots who cross their picket line. Other foreign pilot associations have also issued statements of support for the striking pilots.

Other airport personnel unions including ground crews, security and other services have staged sympathy walkouts to support the striking pilots.

Around 650 pilots – including 100 Danish ones – have decided to go on strike after three months of unsuccessful negotiations regarding their deteriorating working conditions as the low-cost airline seeks to cut costs. 

READ MORE: Pilot Strike: 22 Norwegian flights cancelled

According to Jacob Pedersen, an aviation analyst at Sydbank, the pilots' strike will cost between 25 and 70 million kroner a day. 

Daniel Kirchhoff, Norwegian's communications consultant, estimates some 35,000 passengers will be affected again today.


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”