Cabin crew threaten strike

Atlantic Airways flights may be grounded if the company’s cabin crew decide to take industrial action.

FPU, the Danish trade union representing the Atlantic flight attendants, has announced that its members may resort to industrial action if the airline and its trade union, Starvsmannafelagið (the Employers’ Association) continue to block negotiations with them.

In a press release, the cabin crew say the current situation is causing a great deal of stress and uncertainty for them:

“Without the protection of a contract, none of the cabin crew want to take up a representative role in this conflict, which is why we want the FPU to negotiate on our behalf. We hope that this strike threat will act as a reminder to the airline that we are serious about this issue.”

No talks with non-Faroese unions

The dispute comes in the wake of failed contract renewal talks.

Earlier this summer, two leading representatives of the flight attendants’ union, Súlan, were dismissed after setting up their own union as a sub-branch of the FPU.

The FPU has subsequently been pushing for a new contract with Atlantic, but the airline and its affiliated trade union, Føroya Arbeiðsgevarafelag (the Faroese Salaried Staff Union), have refused to negotiate with non-Faroese unions.

Conflict escalates

Last week, the airline’s management announced that its flight attendants who reside in Copenhagen will now be required to live in the Faroes.

The FPU interprets this as further aggravation of the contract dispute.

Atlantic CEO Jóhanna á Bergi has denied that this latest move was in any way related to the contract talks, insisting that the changes were made as part of a company restructure and optimisation of work procedures.

Translated by prosa.fo