Air traffic controllers in France have been given the right to report to work three hours late after the government abandoned plans to force them to report to work on time.
Emmanuel Macron’s government has given airport staff the right to stay in bed during their shifts, amid a row with the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers, which threatened to call on its members to walk out before the Paris Olympics.
Auditors have high salaries of up to £93,000 a year and work 32 hours a week, but can earn 25 percent less, according to French media, with some Reportedly go on vacation when they have to work.
Staff will now get a pay rise of up to £15,500 and extra benefits including 18 extra days off a year and a pension at the age of 59, thanks to a deal signed by the government in what is widely seen as a coup for the union.
It comes after planned strikes – which were called off before going ahead – caused hundreds of flights to be canceled at the last minute in April, throwing the holidays into chaos for tens of thousands of customers.
Controllers have high salaries of up to £93,000 per year and work 32 hours per week. File image shows the air traffic controller at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport
About a quarter of all flights in France were delayed last year, 24.31 percent, a slightly lower figure than in Britain, where the share of late flights is 25.39 percent.
Amid last month’s strike threats, cancellation rates were the highest in two decades, said Augustin de Romanet, CEO of ADP, the company that operates the capital’s airports.
French ministers wanted to force inspectors to work when scheduled, as part of new reforms aimed at improving productivity.
But there was a breakdown in negotiations with unions over the planned overhaul, with workers demanding it come with high salaries and threatening strike action.
Fearing this would cause travel chaos during this summer’s Olympics, when hundreds of thousands of extra visitors are expected, ministers felt forced to sign an agreement last week, which was leaked to French media.
The deal will cost airlines more than £60m over the next four years, says The Times reports.
News of the deal follows a series of revelations from French media, who spoke to air traffic controllers about the reality of the job.
French police officers stand guard outside Terminal 1 at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games
One of them told Le Parisien that they were told they would be “very well paid and have a lot of free time” but that they would have to accept the level of responsibility that comes with the job once they get started.
They added that they check with colleagues how busy it is before going to bed for a 9am shift – and go back to bed if it’s not too busy.
Another anonymous air traffic controller told it Le Punta news magazine, that managers let people off if they don’t show up, as long as they are ‘available if there is a problem’.
Planned strikes caused hundreds of flights to be canceled at the last minute in April (file image shows BA plane at Charles de Gaulle)
“Sometimes we would call guys who had gone skiing or gone abroad… Then you have the other clearances where no one is counting on you, and you can go to the Seychelles if you want.”
They added that it is rarer to “skip an entire shift” at smaller airports, where employees “call each other to say they have to come late or we will be released early.”
“The planning remains between us,” they said. “The hierarchy doesn’t really have a say.”