Charleroi air traffic control strike suspended to allow for mediation

The trade unions representing workers at Skeyes air traffic control organisation have suspended their ongoing strike action at Charleroi Airport to allow for consultation with a mediator, trade unionist Lennert Mervilde (VSOA/SLFP) has announced.

“The representative trade unions have decided to agree to the opening of negotiations on night-shift allowances for air traffic controllers at Charleroi, with the support of a mediator,” Mervilde said.

“To ensure these negotiations can take place in a calm atmosphere, we’re suspending the strike with immediate effect.

"We hope that Skeyes will also seize this opportunity and that this new round of negotiations will lead to an agreement supported by all parties, thereby restoring industrial peace."

As part of the Namur digital control tower project, which is ultimately intended to manage air traffic for Charleroi and Liège airports, Charleroi controllers are demanding that their night-shift allowances be brought into line with those received by their colleagues in Liège.

Air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) had been on strike every night from 22.00 to 8.00 since 16 September.

The ongoing industrial action has resulted in the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from the airport every day. There were 42 flights cancelled on Wednesday alone as a result of the strike action, with another 14 flights expected to be delayed or rescheduled.

Since the industrial action began, almost 300 flights have been cancelled in total.

On Tuesday, mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) proposed the use of external mediation to resolve the labour dispute. Such a mediation was contingent upon the suspension of the ongoing strike.

The mediation is not intended to take the place of ongoing social dialogue, Crucke said, nor is the mediator expected to take a stance on the parties’ demands.

Rather, the purpose is “to help re-establish the conditions enabling the parties to talk to one another and seek a negotiated solution”.

“I am not here to decide who is right or wrong. The positions are known and social dialogue must be allowed to run its course,” Crucke said.

“But when the dispute becomes deadlocked and its consequences affect travellers, workers and the entire economic activity of an airport on a daily basis, we must try to re-establish the conditions for dialogue.”

In specific terms, the mediation aims to re-establish a forum for dialogue between Skeyes and the workers’ representatives, to identify areas where common ground might be found, and to support the parties in seeking a negotiated solution.

Skeyes management issued a statement saying that it “welcomes the suspension of industrial action at Brussels South Charleroi Airport” and said it would “participate fully in the mediation process and will work, under the guidance of the labour mediator, to find a lasting solution”.