President´s Letter
Óscar Sanguino González - SEPLA's President
We renew positions, we start relationships
This autumn we assist to a new electoral process in SEPLA. As every four years, we renew the Company Councils, which are the base of this organization. Company Councils are which negotiated our members’ labor conditions with the Companies, so we can say their negotiation capacity affect directly to the pilots’ life quality.
As Governing Board and SEPLA Management, we are on charge to provide them with the resources they need to carry their labor out. On top of that, this year we realized it was vital improve communication between Company Councils and Governing Board. Not just because of the importance of their negotiations but also because of the need to draw a common action line for all of them. Unfortunately, more than once we have found at SEPLA some Company Councils interests are against others, it could be natural as the airlines we are working for are rivals at the same market segment.
However, we have preferred to adopt another perspective. We have created a link between the Governing board and Company Councils not just to adopt a common strategy but to export the best of each one to the rest and look for formulas that serve to build objectives based on what has already been achieved by the partner section. It is about share knowledge. It would be nonsense ignore that what a Company Council negotiate could be used for the rest of Company Councils.
Electoral period includes from October to almost the end of November. Many of the companies, which renew its Company Council, have just signed a new text where they regulate pilot conditions. In some case with Collective Agreements, as Iberia which has ratified its Collective agreement by the most of its members. Vueling, after months of hard negotiations, is finishing the agreement which will make the III Pilots Agreement. In some cases as in Ryanair, easyJet, Air Nostrum or Air Europa, are finishing new agreements which we hope they are finished as soon as possible, although some of these companies have too many obstacles to avoid.
I would like to wish all the luck to all the teams that come to this election. As if they are new or, on the contraire, they come to the reelection, all of them have the same objective: improve his colleagues’ life quality, and their own. They should know it is likely that the main criticism will come from their own colleagues. There is not greater altruism.
That is why from SEPLA we encourage all the pilots to participate in this electoral process which is important for their life and to do it in the most organized and honest way, applauding a candidacy and not vilifying the rival, because, regardless of the specific proposals presented by each team, they all share a common goal, and without equal of valid and legitimate, therefore is important they feel supported by their own colleagues to carry out with their ideas and initiatives.
From SEPLA’s Governing Board, we guarantee all of them, all our support.
Óscar Sanguino González
Presidente