Denmark: agreement between SAS and cabin crew to help the company implement its saving program

The Scandinavian airline launched, in January 2009, a savings program to face the decline of the air market and obtained substantial wage concessions from unions (see our dispatch No. 090077). Because of the crisis, the program was increased in 2009, but this time negotiations failed (see our dispatch No. 091021). Now, a new program was launched and provides, among other things, for a new annual cut of 500 million crowns (€51 million), a requirement set out by the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian governments to participate in the new capital increase of the airline next April. The exceptional negotiation round launched in February, with the four cabin crew unions and the four pilot unions, affected “wage cuts and freezes, allowances, pensions and other benefits.” Even though, quite quickly, seven of these organizations accepted the cuts requested by SAS, CAU, the Danish cabin crew union, demanded, in return, guarantees against “social dumping” for the renewal of the collective agreement of Danish cabin crew, expired on March 1st. The Norwegian and Swedish cabin crew unions accused the CAU of jeopardizing the future of the Scandinavian airline by standing on its grounds. Therefore, the intervention of the arbitration institution (Forligsinstitutionen) was necessary to reach the agreement signed by CAU and SAS on March 11.