France’s largest air traffic controller union, the SNCTA, is maintaining a strike notice for the April 29 to May 2 period despite deciding to cancel a walkout planned for April 16 to 18. After conducting a strike on April 8 and 9, the SNCTA now has expressed satisfaction with the outcome of an April 13 meeting with French civil aviation authority DGAC, but it says it remains wary of possible setbacks over the course of ongoing negotiations. Rather than salaries or organization, the heart of the problem lies with the method of negotiation over proposed changes to working conditions, it contends.

The DGAC—the parent institution of the country's air traffic control service provider—had required airlines to cut the number of flights by 40 percent on April 8 and then 50 percent the next day. According to the SNCTA, some 46 percent of the controllers walked out during the period. The union counts in its calculation those controllers scheduled to work willingly on those days, not those on a rest period or “requisitioned.” In some en route control centers, up to 95 percent of the workers went on strike, according to Olivier Giuge, one of the SNCTA’s national secretaries.

In France, civil servants can go on strike providing they give a five-day notice. Air traffic controllers, however, stand subject to a so-called “minimum service” scheme. The government may requisition them to ensure at least 50 percent of scheduled flights operate.

Another four unions had called strikes on April 9 as part of a wider protest “against austerity.”

But now the SNCTA—which collected 49.8 percent of the controllers’ votes in the latest election, in December 2014—objects to the way the talks are being conducted. The negotiation framework centers on an agreement that encompasses all of the DGAC and must undergo renewal every three years; schedules call for signing of the next memorandum late this year. The SNCTA wants controller-related aspects negotiated at the controller level, as opposed to a wider scheme that used to also involve other categories of personnel.

However, it appears on its own in advocating for such a change. For example, the USAC-CGT union, which represents 22 percent of the controllers and also covers other DGAC staff, disagrees. It has accused the SNCTA of egoism. “They are just seeking pay raises and want to break the across-the-board philosophy we have applied in negotiations so far,” Olivier Joffrin, national secretary of the USAC-CGT, told AIN.

The SNCTA’s Giuge adamantly maintains that his position is legitimate. “Only controllers will be asked for more flexibility on working hours,” he said. Both unions agree on the principle of introducing changes to rosters, to better match low-activity and peak periods.

During the April 13 meeting, the DGAC accepted a new method that will take into account “the peculiarities of our job,” Giuge said. The sides have defined three levels of negotiations: base, middle management and DGAC. They have scheduled their next meeting for April 20.