Cargo handler workers at LuxairCargo held protests at Luxembourg Airport (Findel) last month ahead of the transfer of the business to a new company.
LuxairCargo has been Luxembourg Airport’s cargo handler for more than 25 years but has decided not to take part in the latest seven-year tender.
A decision on which companies will take on the Findel Cargo Center is due in November but reports suggest that a new Cargolux subsidiary, Luxcargo Handling, is one of the frontrunners to take over the operation in 2024.
Ahead of the transfer, around 300 workers represented by the OGBL, LCGB and NGL-SNEP unions recently held a demonstration at the airport to secure guarantees over the future transfer.
In total, 1,200 people are employed by LuxairCargo and will be transferred to the new business.
The unions would like to see a guarantee that in the event of over staffing there will be no layoffs following the transfer of activity; the establishment of a collective agreement specific to the new company based on the current Luxair collective agreement; the guarantee of existing agreements and the safeguarding of extra-legal benefits specific to Luxair personnel; recognition for the unfailing commitment of staff; and the guarantee of adequate representation of employees.
The LCGB union said that despite several meetings with Luxair management and representatives of the ministries concerned, no concrete guarantees or recognition have been obtained, until now, for the employees concerned.
LuxairCARGO is located next to the airport’s runway and has a capacity of 1,200,000 tons per year.
The 58,000 sq m facility initially opened in 1996 and was complemented in 2001 with a 12,500 sq m logistic centre. It was further expanded in 2007 with an additional 9,500 sq m.
The current infrastructure has automated stacking, retrieval and loading for up to 1,640 unit load devices (ULD) and a dedicated 90,000 sq m ramp area that supports simultaneous handling of up to eight widebody aircraft.
“This set-up results in average transit times for cargo of only eight hours, while a fully loaded B747 freighter can be turned-around in as little as two hours,” LuxairCargo said.
According to its website, LuxairCargo airline customers include: Cargolux, China Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Air France/KLM Cargo, DHL, Atlas Air and Qatar Airways.
-Source(aircargonews)
