SriLankan Airlines Cabin Crew To Commence Industrial Action, Villifies Chairman Ajit Dias And CEO Ratwatte
May 25, 2016
The Cabin Crew of SriLankan Airlines will commence industrial action today in protest over the management’s non acceptance of their Flight Attendants Union Executive Committee Members’ legitimacy.
An emergency meeting was called for by Cabin Manager Adrian Cramer which was also presided over by Cabin Manager Dion Jansz that was attended by over 200 Cabin Crew at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall in Colombo yesterday.
This emergency meeting was held after the management of Sri Lankan Airlines wrote officially to Cabin Manager Adrian Cramer and indicated that they refused to accept a group of Cabin Crew headed by him as the official body of the Flight Attendants Union (FAU), as they neglected to furnish proof of their official capacity despite being written to officially.
In a series of articles commencing January 2016, It was factually reported by Colombo Telegraph that the group of cabin crew masquerading as members of the Executive Committee of the FAU were in fact in violation of their very own constitution. This was when Cabin Manager Cramer along with a group of Cabin Crew forcibly took over the reins of the FAU in December 2015, even though they did not hold a ballot which was constitutionally required.
At the meeting today a motion was passed to commence immediate industrial action where by the Cabin Crew will refuse to fly on their days off.
It was also passed to cut down on the In Flight product offered to passengers depending on the number of available Cabin Crew on board.
This industrial action will continue until the management of the airline agrees to accept them as the official FAU body and commences engaging in dialog with them.
Over the years the management of the national carrier has always operated with numbers way below their required cadre of Cabin Crew and has juggled around with their off days to ensure that flights were properly crewed.
