KLM and the trade unions have not yet reached an agreement on the wage sacrifices that must be made to receive government support. The deadline passed around noon.
The bottleneck in the negotiations is the length of the period for which wages are being cut. In order to receive the state aid, the unions must have a pledge that they are prepared to cut spending until 2025, but the VNV pilot union does not want to do that for the time being.
“This specific adjustment to our agreement cannot be realized within this period,” VNV writes in a statement. “Nevertheless, we have always done what is necessary in terms of employment conditions and is consistent with the state of the company.” The association for cabin crew (VNC) and association for aviation technicians NVLT have agreed.
A deal between KLM and the unions seems to be a condition of Finance Minister Hoekstra to pay out the 3.4 billion euros in state aid. Part of it has already been paid out.