Cargolux unions to protest against ‘safety breaches’

The LCGB union is to hold a protest march at Luxembourg airport tomorrow (8 July) against what it claims is a decline in safety culture at all-cargo carrier Cargolux – and is threatening strike action over the issue.
LCGB said it would hold the march as it claimed that safety and trust cultures at Cargolux have suffered “as a result of the management’s failure to (conform) to rules”.
The union claimed that management has failed to comply internal procedure.
For instance, it said, there were no disciplinary measures against the pilots responsible for an incident last September, when a Cargolux plane only narrowly avoided a catastrophe.
"On the other hand, four pilots who had received valid sick notes were monitored by private investigators and dismissed without prior warning on the grounds of ‘unacceptable’ absenteeism," the union said.
LCGB said it would seek a mandate from Cargolux pilots for further trade union actions. A member survey is currently under way and “measures ranging up to a strike can no longer be ruled out”.
A Cargolux spokesperson said: “This has been treated in the press and there have not been any further developments. For this reason, we have no further comments.”
However, the airline has recently introduced new roles that it claimed would strengthen aviation safety.
In mid-June, Cargolux told Air Cargo News that vice president, head of aviation safety Mattias Pak had been appointed group aviation safety officer with the additional new responsibility of supervising the operational safety standards of both Cargolux in Luxembourg and Cargolux Italia in Milan.
Cargolux also created the new position of human factors manager who will participate in the selection of pilots of all group companies, at the same time providing coaching to pilots and be available to help with stress management or other personal problems.