ITF Comment On Cargolux Qatar Airways Withdrawal Victory

19 November 2012

ITF Comment On Cargolux Qatar Airways Withdrawal Victory

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) today applauded the victory by its member union, the OGBL (Onofhängege Gewerkschaftsbond Lëtzebuerg) in helping secure the withdrawal of Qatar Airways as a part owner of Luxembourg’s Cargolux airline. Qatar Airways had bought a 35 per cent share in the cargo carrier and was believed to be seeking a majority stake. The OGBL led a campaign to prevent a takeover and the potential loss of thousands of jobs.

Gabriel Mocho, secretary of the ITF’s civil aviation section, commented: “This victory comes just days after an OGBL-led demonstration against these potentially disastrous plans, and is proof that rightful resistance pays off.”

He continued: “We in the ITF were at that demonstration and have been pleased to help this campaign, but it’s the OGBL that deserves all the recognition for raising the alarm about the danger of job losses and the death of democracy and dialogue in the company.”

At the protest* on 13 November Hubert Hollerich, OGBL spokesperson on aviation affairs, told the demonstrators: “The OGBL is opposed to selling off one of the jewels of the Luxembourg economy to a state that does not know the concept of parliament, trade unions, social dialogue and democracy.”

Among the arguments presented to the government in Luxembourg against a Qatari takeover was a formal complaint that the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) presented to the ILO (International Labour Organization) denouncing serious breaches in international labour conventions in Qatar. The ITUC is developing a campaign against these violations ahead of the 2022 Football World Cup, which is to be held in the country (see http://act.equaltimes.org/en/fillastadium for more details).

ENDS

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