Air France unions brandish new strike threat

Air France-KLM’s French unions voiced impatience on Thursday with a frozen pay dispute, threatening renewed industrial action unless the airline group resumes talks that were curtailed by its CE’s resignation in May. The group has refused to reopen pay talks pending the arrival of its next CEO Ben Smith in late September. Unions representing pilots, cabin crew and ground staff are demanding a 5.1% pay hike to compensate for a five-year erosion of real wages due to inflation.“The completely irresponsible attitude of Air France managers has led the unions to conclude that only a significant hardening of the conflict will force them to resolve it permanently,” a cross-union grouping said.<br/>