Vnukovo prepares for maintenance and ground staff strike amidst union suspicions the airline wishes to shed its maintenance capability

Published: 8/11/1999

Vnukovo Airlines (VAL) is preparing for a strike, according to a report in Moscow-based Vremya MN (August 10th 1999). On August 9th, the Vnukovo unions, representing the maintenance and ground staff, picketed the Moscow Mayor's office, demanding that the company be rescued from its current problems and that debts be paid. The picket is seen by the union as the prelude to a full strike, due to start on August 15th 1999. Valery Mezinov, a trade union representative, said that: "We do not think that the Moscow administration can press on the Vnukovo management, we simply want the local authorities to be aware of the problems of one of the biggest Russian airlines. The strike will definitely be held, if our demands are not met”. The Vnukovo employees believe that the company currently owes them 60 m rubles. The union also wants information on the current financial situation of the airline, as the collapse of the airline would lead to unemployment. The maintenance personnel have already found their jobs in jeopardy following the move of VAL aircraft from Vnukovo to Domodedovo, owing to the high cost of operating out of the airport. Technicians have been bussed daily to Domodedovo in order to service the airline's aircraft. In their absence, Vnukovo Airport has created its own technical group, "Port VS", with the intention of competing with the VAL teams that previously undertook all maintenance of aircraft at the airport. For the union, the move of aircraft to Domodedovo has been seen as an effort by the airline to shed its maintenance personnel and it seems that this particular concern is at the root of the current dispute. The airline is reluctant to meet the demands of the union. According to Mezinov, Alexander Klimov, Deputy General Director of VAL, told employees, at a meeting in early August, that the management would evaluate the situation on a commercial basis. It would only be then that they could meet the union's demands or let the strike go ahead. The airline could potentially secure its maintenance services from elsewhere at its new operating base at Domodedovo, so prompting the suspicion that the strike may be a useful way of justifying such a move. Given the reportedly poor financial health of the airline, a strike at the height of the Russian summer season is the last thing it needs. The recent collapses of the merger talks with Sibir endorse the suggestion that the airline is in a perilous condition. A strike can only make things worse.

Article ID: 746