Charleroi Airport Faces Nearly a Month of Night Strikes
Air traffic controllers at Charleroi Airport are planning to strike during every night shift for nearly a month after talks over night-shift pay ended without an agreement.
The strikes are expected to start on Wednesday, September 16, and could continue until October 10, according to Lennert Mervilde of the VSOA trade union.
The dispute is part of a wider conflict between unions and Skeyes, Belgium’s air traffic control organization. One of the main issues is a plan to move some air traffic control operations to a digital control center in Namur.
A digital control tower works differently from a traditional tower. Controllers use cameras and other technology to see the airport on large screens and manage flights remotely instead of working inside the airport’s control tower.
The planned move has caused tensions between Skeyes management and unions. Controllers at Charleroi have opposed the plan for years and are asking for compensation and other measures related to the change.
Night-shift pay at center of dispute
The latest disagreement is mainly about the extra pay air traffic controllers receive for working at night.
Skeyes said negotiations ended without a deal. The company said controllers at Charleroi want their night premium increased to 160 percent of its current level.
According to Skeyes, the current premium is already worth more than 1,000 euro per shift. The company argues that the requested increase is difficult to justify because Charleroi Airport is officially closed during the night.
The union has a different view.
Mervilde said the controllers want the same night compensation given to workers at other Skeyes locations where night work is carried out.
He also said flights can still operate during the airport’s official nighttime closure. Under an agreement between Charleroi Airport and Ryanair, aircraft based at the airport can still arrive during the night.
The union said the last such flight arrived at around 5:20 a.m. the previous week.
24 nights of planned strikes
The planned strikes would take place only during the night shift, from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m.
This means controllers could stop working for 10 hours each night for 24 consecutive nights.
The union says it sees the strike as the only remaining option after negotiations failed. However, it says it hopes the action will have as little impact as possible.
“We are waiting for an initiative from management,” Mervilde said.
Skeyes has criticized the planned strikes, calling the action disproportionate to the dispute.
The company warned that 10-hour work stoppages every night for 24 consecutive nights could seriously affect Charleroi Airport, airlines and passengers, as well as businesses and workers who depend on airport activity.
The dispute follows several air traffic control strikes and disruptions in Belgium earlier this year.
A union in Charleroi had already filed a strike notice at the end of July, but the action did not take place at that time. Instead, the two sides made several attempts to settle the dispute through negotiations and mediation.
Those efforts failed to produce an agreement, leading to the latest planned night strikes at Charleroi Airport.
