UNION SINDICAL OBRERA DENOUNCE PRESSURE FROM RYANAIR TOWARDS CABIN CREW.

Príncipe de Vergara, 13, 7ª planta. Madrid, 915 77 41 13 Noviembre 2017. PRESS RELEASE USO DENOUNCES THE HARASSMENT TO RYANAIR CABIN CREW From the USO-Ryanair union section we denounce the pressures done to Ryanair Cabin Crew, members of USO and not members, by Ryanair itself, in what the company considers a low performance on onboard sales to the passengers, advising the Cabin Crew of sanctioning procedures in case of no improvement, as well as an implied “not doing their job properly” attitude according with this low sales performance. Ryanair, after admonishing their Cabin Crew because of their apparent low performance on sales, such as cosmetics, food, drinks, perfumes, alcoholic beverages or scratch cards, modifies unilaterally the labour terms and conditions of their Cabin Crew, in terms of scheduling and rostering patterns, in a sanctioning attitude, from the 1st of December 2017 until the 31st of January 2018, considering that there was a breach in the employment contracts, by the Cabin Crew, although, there is absolutely no condition on any Ryanair Cabin Crew contract that states targets or minimums of sales to be achieved. Likewise, the Cabin Crew are informed about a close and continuous followup during December and January, by the company, which, in case of no improvement, Ryanair says they will take measures and some disciplinary actions. In previous notifications, Ryanair, threatens their Cabin Crew with forced transfers to other bases in Europe, such as Stansted, Dublin or Kaunas, to be closely monitored on their sales performance. Some of these Cabin Crew would be separated from their homes, families and children, because they simply are not selling enough according with Ryanair. This airline seems to forget that the main role of a Cabin Crew is one of Safety and Security of passengers, crew and the aircraft itself, and not one of a Sales Agent. The function of serving passengers, whether it be food, drinks, cosmetics or others, is and might be a secondary role given to the Cabin Crew, during the flights. The main roles of the Cabin Crew are stated in Ryanair Operations Manual, which was approved by IAA, as well as by the air sector regulations from EASA, and these roles focus mainly on normal and emergency operating procedures. From USO, we denounce these abusive labour practices that distort the main roles of a Cabin Crew Member, forcing the Cabin Crew to address sales first, instead of safety and/or security, due to high pressure on commercial tasks and sales targets to comply with, and under a constant threat of forced base transfers or scheduling changes that may lead to cases of fatigue and Cabin Crew unawareness. This culture of constant pressure and threat, over the workforce, are inappropriate on a company of the 21st century, from a country within Europe, such as Ireland, in which the Air Safety and Security prevails over sales of perfumes, liquor or scratch cards. We attach to this document a series of memos and letters where this pressure and threat can be proved. USO - AIRLINE SECTOR