LEBANON: Pilots plan 24-hour strike over pay cuts

Record ID: 339620

  • Title: LEBANON: Pilots plan 24-hour strike over pay cuts
  • Date: 29th April 2010
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (FILE) (REUTERS) GV'S OF BEIRUT AIRPORT VARIOUS OF PLANES PARKED ON TARMAC PLANE TAKING OFF
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAF2NA09EEZAXFJRS3P2SD7NO70
  • Story Text: Pilots from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA) said on Wednesday (April 28) they plan to launch a 24-hour strike in an effort to claw back benefits they lost when the flag carrier was restructured in 2001, the Lebanese Pilots Association said.
    The strike is due to start on Thursday (April 29) after negotiations to reach an agreement efforts had failed, head of the Lebanese Pilots Association, Mahmoud Houmany, said.
    ''In light of exhausting all the methods of dialogue due to the stubbornness and superiority of the company administration and things reaching a dead-end and to preserve the rights of pilots and the profession of the pilots in general, the Lebanese Pilot Association announces a general strike of Middle East Airlines ton Thursday April 29, 2010 for 24 hours, starting 0600 (0300GMT)," Houmany told a news brief in Beirut.
    Airport sources said 24 MEA flights were scheduled to take off and land at Beirut airport on Thursday.
    MEA underwent major restructuring from 1998-2002, helping it reverse losses and return to a $22 million profit in 2003, according to its website.
    Over 1,000 employees were made redundant during the overhaul and pilots were issued with new contracts that increased their hours and cut back their benefits. Staff fiercely resisted the overhaul, holding a series of sit-ins and strikes.
    ''I have to ask you this question, who would you hold responsible? We are talking about the rights of the company's employees for which the company is clearly responsible. The company profits from the travellers and we apologise to those travellers but there was nothing else in our hands to do,'' Houmany said.
    MEA posted a net profit in 2009 of over $100 million. The airline, set up in 1945, is majority owned by the central bank.
    MEA's management has always hoped to privatise the airline but plans to float some shares on the stock market have been repeatedly delayed.
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