According to the Swedish Pilot Association, the strike threat was that SAS did not re-employ the 560 pilots who were laid off during the pandemic. Instead, the subsidiaries SAS Link and SAS Connect have been used as staffing companies.
According to SAS, it is estimated that around 30,000 passengers per day will be affected by a possible strike.
– We regret this situation we are in, but we are actually trying everything we can to save the summer holidays, said Marianne Hernæsen at SAS when she on Saturday updated journalists gathered outside the negotiating room.
“Nonchalant” to drive SAS into bankruptcy
The tone has been so high during the negotiations that the Norwegian Pilot Association has said that they are prepared to run SAS into bankruptcy “if the company does not want to adopt the Scandinavian model”.
At SAS, the spokesperson Karin Nyman reacted with dismay.
– These are completely absurd statements that show a shocking indifference. I have no words, she told SVT earlier and emphasized that the airline’s finances are currently threatening its future.
Labor law principles at stake
The Swedish pilot association has also expressed anger and believes that the negotiations are not only about SAS but about the future of the collective agreement model.
They have demanded that SAS stop using subsidiaries for staffing.
– To find mailbox companies to circumvent the agreements they have entered into and the labor law principles that apply, there is nothing any union can accept anywhere in the world, said Martin Lindgren, chairman of the SAS section at the Swedish pilot association, earlier this week.
The text is updated.