The Lederne union joined the Wizz Air boycott. It justified the move by pointing at the low-cost company’s attitudes towards trade unions.
The organization’s central board decided on Wednesday that it would boycott Wizz Air, one day after the main board of the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) made the same decision.
Industri Energi and Nito have previously announced that they will prevent their employees to use Wizz Air for business trips.
“If it becomes a reality that Wizz Air enters Norway’s domestic market, we take it for granted that the employees will be able to have collective agreements,” union leader Audun Ingvartsen in Lederne said in a press release.
The industry organization represents business leaders across sectors in Norway.
Strong reactions to anti-union sentiments
Like YS, they reacted to CEO of Wizz Air József Váradi ‘s October 6 statement.
Váradi said that the Hungarian low-cost airline would not enter into collective agreements with trade unions.
“We are an airline without unions,” Váradi said at the time, according to E24.
The statement was met with extensive criticism in Norway, and the company has since emphasized that it would comply with Norwegian legislation.
“A threat to the structure of Norwegian society”
“Wizz Air complies with applicable laws and regulations in all countries in which we operate.
“It is crucial and indispensable for our business. We fully respect the Norwegian working life model and will, of course, comply with the Norwegian regulations,” Wizz Air’s HR director Johan Eidhagen said in a press release on October 15.
But union leader Audun Ingvartsen in Lederne disagrees with the statement.
“Wizz Air’s entry into Norway and their stated attitude to our established model of cooperation in working life threatens the structure of Norwegian society,” he warned.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Leave a comment