The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has agreed to agree with the union Ver.di in the collective bargaining for their German cabin crew. They have signed a collective agreement and a social plan, said the airline.
This agreement would ensure that German employment law would be applied to Ryanair's cabin crew and offer wage increases and other benefits to all Ryanair cabin crews in Germany over the next two years.
Ver.di announced that there was a "preliminary agreement to a collective agreement". According to a Ver.di spokeswoman, the parties negotiated important "cornerstones" such as the application of German labor law, improvements in working conditions and salary increases for both permanent cabin workers and temporary workers.
The agreement is currently being discussed with Ver.di members at Ryanair. Therefore, a decision will be made only after questioning the members on 13 November. For the first time, however, the agreement could regulate safeguards for transfers, severance payments and reinstatements in a social plan. According to Ver.di, the problem remains that Ryanair does not allow works councils.
Strikes in several European countries
Parts of the cabin crew had last laid down in September in several European countries, including in Germany, the work. Ver.di had justified the strike with the insufficient offer of Ryanair. The union wanted to set significantly higher incomes in a collective agreement and demanded working conditions under German law. The strike hit Germany's Schönefeld Airport in Germany. 52 out of 92 take-offs and landings had to be canceled.
In a previous strike wave of similar dimensions in August, Ryanair had withdrawn around 400 flights across Europe with more than 2400 daily connections. At that time 150 canceled flights were affected in Germany.
Ryanair is the largest budget airline in Europe. The uniform Boeing 737 aircraft fly to more than 215 airports in 37 countries and operate from 86 bases in Europe and North Africa. The highly profitable company employs about 14,500 people. In the financial year 2017/2018, the company made a profit of € 1.45 billion on sales of € 7.15 billion.