Risk of SAS pilot strikes in Sweden and Norway

Airline and unions unable to reach negotiated agreements

SAS is having staff problems in both Sweden and Norway, Jyllands-Posten reports.

Negotiations between SAS and the company’s pilots in Sweden have broken down and the pilots have warned of strike action from May 21.

There is also the risk of industrial action from the company’s Norwegian pilots, following a breakdown in negotiations yesterday for a Norwegian collective working conditions agreement.

Negotiations not leading anywhere
Peter Larsson, the spokesperson for the SAS department of the Swedish pilots’ union SPF, told the Norwegian news bureau NTB that further negotiations were futile.

“We can’t see that the negotiations will lead to anything,” he said.

This development has surprised the airline, which still hopes to reach a negotiated settlement, according to its Swedish press chief Malin Selander.

In Norway, the Norwegian pilots’ union NSF is pushing for arbitration, according to the union boss Rune Sundland.

“We won’t make any more progress by going down the negotiation route,” he said. “So we are now requesting arbitration.”

SAS recently reached a negotiated deal with the pilots in Denmark.





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