EasyJet is expected to respond to demands for higher pay from French unions by early next week at the latest, according to a union representative.
The pay talks come as Europe braces for strikes affecting airlines ahead of its busiest Christmas travel season in three years as it recovers from the pandemic.
Unionised workers at Air France have given notice to strike from December 22 to January 2, while the UK’s Border Force is also expected to take industrial action, potentially disrupting transit times.
The union statement comes after a meeting between easyJet and the SNPNC and UNAC unions near Paris. Talks have been going on since early November and are set to end on December 7.
“There is no strike action notice to date in France and negotiations are ongoing,” an easyJet spokesperson told Reuters ahead of the meeting.
However, an SNPNC representative reportedly said that if easyJet does not accept its demands, a strike is “inevitable”.
The UK budget airline’s French workers are demanding a raise of at least 8% to compensate for rising inflation as well as a hike in the cost of their healthcare premium, according to the SNPNC spokesperson.
French inflation for hit 7.1% in November, while easyJet had offered a raise of less than 6%, the representative said.
An easyJet spokesperson declined to confirm its offer.
The unions also want a Christmas bonus promised to other easyJet workers around the continent.
French workers, who will instead receive a €300 payout agreed earlier this year, said they were told they would have to forego a larger bonus.
EasyJet has said that if negotiations end in strike action, it will withdraw concession offers made so far, an email sent to the union on November 30 reportedly seen by Reuters showed.
The email was sent in the lead up to the talks and reiterated easyJet’s bargaining position, adding that French workers had avoided redundancies despite a reduction in fleet.
Meanwhile, staff responsible for energy supply at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport went on strike earlier this week to demand more jobs, according to union FO-ADP.
Other action is disrupting the refuelling of aircraft, while another has hit Air France’s freight transport sector, France’s General Confederation of Labour said.