In a new union victory against Wizz Air, courts in Romania ruled that Wizz Air must reinstate four pilots and ten cabin crew. Wizz Air dismissed them a year ago, claiming the COVID-19 crisis as the reason for its decision. Following lawsuits by the ETF affiliate FPU Romania, the courts have now ruled that the airline did not follow the local labour legislation, and must reinstate the workers.
Wizz Air’s anti-labour practices – exposed again by a recent leak – are well known at this point, and it’s time for the company to accept the fact that it cannot escape existing labour legislation and organised workforce.
The ETF celebrates this latest union victory and stands in solidarity with all workers who stand up to Wizz Air’s intimidation tactics.
FPU Romania’s press release:
The Hungarian airline Wizz Air has been forced to reinstate four pilots and ten cabin crew by the Romanian court system.
Wizz Air dismissed these pilots and the cabin crew, based in Romania, exactly one year ago, on 14th of April 2020, but the dismissals were challenged by the professional association FPU Romania and the dismissed employees.
Wizz Air stated that the pilots and cabin crew were let go because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but FPU Romania and the dismissed employees considered that the terminations were unlawful because the airline did not follow the local labor legislation.
“We are extremely happy with the verdict received by our members. We believe it confirms that Wizz Air has used the pandemic as an opportunity to let go experienced and thus more expensive crew in order to hire cheaper labor. It is time for the airline to reflect on the way they treat their employees, and we want to take this opportunity to invite all Wizz Air pilots and cabin crew to join forces and actively fight for better working conditions,” says Mircea Constantin, Head of Representation for FPU Romania.
In one of Bucharest Court’s verdict, it is noted that “the dismissal was not based on valid and serious reasons because the airline has failed to prove that it had any major financial difficulties”. Among other things, the Court points out that Wizz Air hired nine new pilots for the same job roles two and a half months after the said dismissals.
Wizz Air dismissed approx. 1000 of its employees in April 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic started, but continued to expand with over 15 new bases, adding at least 10 new aircraft to their fleet and initiated a huge recruitment campaign.
“We are very concerned about the way that big international companies ignore the workers’ rights and even the local legislation in Eastern Europe. FPU Romania will continue the fight to ensure that aviation workers are treated with respect so that decent working conditions become the norm here”, says Mircea Constantin, who worked for Wizz Air as cabin crew instructor until April 2020 and who is one of the reinstated employees.
The reinstated pilots and cabin crew will now be able to return to their flying duties. The court decision could be appealed by Wizz Air. The case was supported by Costel Gîlcă and Bianca Mircea, FPU Romania’s legal team.