EasyJet cabin crew call strike for this weekend in France
Passengers could face disruption Saturday and Sunday as unions step up their dispute
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Cabin crew at easyJet are set to strike on Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 16, escalating a dispute over working conditions and staff schedules.
The three unions representing the airline’s cabin crew - UNAC-CFE-CGC, SNPNC-FO and UNPNC-CFDT - said the action would run all day on both days.
The strike comes after a notice was filed by the unions covering the period from August 7 to September 2. However, until now, no specific strike dates had been announced.
A strike notice does not mean employees will strike continuously throughout the entire period. Instead, it gives the unions the legal framework to call strikes on specific days, with the dates announced in advance (at least 48 hours).
The action affects easyJet's six French bases: Paris Orly, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lyon, Nice, Nantes and Bordeaux.
The unions said around 1,074 cabin crew members are covered by the dispute.
Why are they striking?
The unions said that the dispute centres on what they claim are unstable working conditions. They say cabin crew rosters can be changed repeatedly, sometimes at short notice, with staff moved between morning and evening duties, assigned to different bases and given longer rotations or reduced rest.
The unions said they have been raising the issue with management for almost a year but have yet to see concrete results.
What adds to the frustration, according to them, is that some protections against roster changes are available to easyJet pilots but have not been extended to cabin crew.
"We are not asking for anything unprecedented: we are asking for what the company has already granted to pilots. We regret having to resort to this, but our colleagues have had enough," said Gaël Leloup, an UNAC-CFE-CGC easyJet union representative.
What should passengers do?
Passengers travelling with easyJet on August 15 or 16 should check their flight status before travelling and monitor emails and messages from the airline for any changes.
The union’s notice remains in force until September 2, so further strike dates remain possible if the dispute is not resolved.
