Trade union tackles efforts to hire self-employed flight attendants

The Dutch employment agency Confair has been seeking to engage Finnish flight attendants on a self-employed basis for winter holiday flights arranged by the Finnish package tour operator Oy Aurinkomatkat - Suntours Ltd Ab. This attempt was abandoned, however, following the intervention of the Finnish Cabin Crew Union (SLSY).

SLSY President Thelma Åkers has learned that the flight staff will now be engaged as employees, and the employment agency will no longer be involved in any way.

There were several serious problems with the business agreement offered by Confair to self-employed flight attendants, and the terms and conditions of working under this agreement were clearly inferior to the minimum terms and conditions of employment guaranteed to cabin crews under the applicable Finnish collective agreement.

These working arrangements would have left flight attendants in an insecure situation, as the self-employed enjoy no statutory protection against dismissal. There were also deficiencies in relation to sickness benefits and the working time regulations were unclear.

"There is no way that the work of flight attendants can be construed as sufficiently independent to classify them as self-employed traders. It&#;8217s great that we managed to put a stop to this scheme," Thelma Åkers says.

There is a danger that corresponding efforts to force workers into self-employment will spread into other industries in Finland. The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions – SAK cannot accept any attempt to make workers liable for business risks.