Members of one of Norway’s pilots organizations demonstrated in Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Bodø on Thursday against the new take-offs and arrivals of Hungarian airline Wizz Air. It was launching new domestic routes as it both entered and challenged the market with extremely low fares.
“They have hindered employees from organizing (in labour unions),” claimed the leader of Pilotforbundet Oddbjørn Holsether. He also told state broadcaster NRK that “they engage in social dumping that has no place in Norway.”
The pilots’ organization has also asked Norwegian police to check whether Wizz Air is paying its employees a liveable wage in Norway. The pilots were on hand to protest Wizz Air’s first domestic departure from Oslo to Trondheim early Thursday morning, and handed out brochures to passengers describing their complaints.
Wizz Air itself has denied the social dumping charges against it and claimed it’s up to the employees whether they want to organize themselves in labour groups. A Wizz Air official claimed the airline was offering competitive services to Norwegian customers, adding that ticket sales had gone better than expected. The airline continues to face boycotts in Norway.
newsinenglish.no staff
