Aeroflot Extends Collective Agreement With Employees

MOSCOW, Oct. 23, 2014 /CNW/ - JSC Aeroflot management and airline employee trade unions have successfully concluded negotiations that extend the collective bargaining agreement currently in place for the period 2014 through 2017. The collective agreement calls for a wide range of benefits for employees, irrespective of union membership.

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Despite the challenging economic environment in Russia, the parties determined it was essential to keep in place all benefits, subsidies and guarantees included in the prevailing collective agreement. The trade unions have maintained the crucial role they have long held in facilitating labour relations. The agreement was signed by the United Representative Body of Aeroflot employees.

Vitaly Saveliev, Chief Executive Officer of JSC Aeroflot, said: "Aeroflot and the trade unions have agreed to extend the most generous benefits package in the industry for our employees. We are particularly pleased to reach this agreement through mutually respectful dialogue, thus avoiding the kinds of interruption to service that customers of our European peers have faced in recent years. Our employees: pilots, flight attendants, engineers, technicians, office workers and representatives - are our most valuable asset, and we will continue to ensure that they receive market-beating compensation and benefits in the years ahead."

The collective agreement will remain in force through 1 December 2017. The range of benefits laid out under the collective agreement is unprecedented in the airline industry. To date the expenses incurred by Aeroflot to maintain these benefits exceeds RUB 3 bln a year.

Employees receive attractive and high salaries that are regularly re-indexed, and in addition receive additional payments (paid annual leave, awards upon retirement, paid public holidays, etc.).

The collective agreement calls for the following benefits:

• Adding up to 14 days of holiday time (increasing total annual paid leave to 42 days);
• Medical care (treatment at Aeroflot's own Medical Centre, payment for treatment at other medical facilities, subsidised prescriptions);
• Expense-paid holidays in sanatoriums (in 2014 employees enjoyed holidays and sanatorium treatments in Russia and abroad: Crimea, the Mineralnie Vody region of the Caucasus, the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, the Krasnodar region, Slovakia, Israel, the UAE and Turkey;
• Non-state pension fund payments;
• Company-provided automobiles;
• Subsidised air tickets for employees and their families;
• Reimbursement of children's pre-school expenses;
• Corporate trainings.

A number of key benefits continue for employees after they have retired from the Company.

Aeroflot has always valued healthy lifestyles for employees, and for that reason leases exercise facilities on their behalf.

Approximately 70% of the cost of employee benefits are allocated to on-board personnel, the airline's most valued group of employees. In addition to high salaries in line with those at the leading international airlines, pilots receive:

• The most holidays in the industry, 70 days off (whereas European carriers typically give pilots 28 days);
• Comfortable accommodations when spending the night away from the pilot's home airport;
• Minimum three-star hotel accommodation;
• Expense-paid holidays in sanatoriums (in addition to the standard company options, a special program is available to pilots and their families in the Czech Republic);
• Per-diem based on average salaried day for days spent on routine medical check-ups;
• In the event a pilot leaves the Company due to physical inability to carry out his duties, a one-time payment is made equivalent to 20%-100% of his annual salary;
• Injury compensation of USD 5,000-10,000 in the event of health problems;
• Non-state pension fund payments (through a dedicated pension plan, "Golden Anchor")
• Subsidised airline tickets, including on high-demand routes, for pilots and their family members.

The current JSC Aeroflot collective agreement was first signed in 2005. The agreement was the result of extensive collective bargaining with JSC Aeroflot by the leading airline employee union, First Trade-union Organisation, of which more than half of all Aeroflot employees are members. The collective agreement was renewed twice, in 2008 and 2011, without modifying the benefits received by employees.

JSC Aeroflot employs approximately 18,000 people in Russia and abroad and is the leading employer in the Russian aviation industry. Aeroflot is known as a prestigious and attractive employer due to generous compensation, extensive benefits packages, and effective engagement with a proactive trade union.

Aeroflot has many times been named one of the best employers in Russia, due not just to the benefits it offers employees but also opportunities for career growth. In 2014 the Company for the first time was named one of the top 10 best employers for graduates by the leading youth employment firm Future Today.

About Aeroflot 

Aeroflot is Russia's flagship carrier and one of the largest airline groups in Europe. In 2013, its 90th anniversary year, Aeroflot carried 20.9 million passengers (31.4 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries), a record for any Russian airline. A proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot and its partners serve more than 1,000 destinations in 177 countries worldwide. Aeroflot operates the youngest fleet in the World (among the major airlines), numbering 152 Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi airliners. Aeroflot is among the global leaders in aviation safety. The company's European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Index, which is the main globally recognized safety parameter, is comparable to global peers. The first Russian carrier to enter the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register, renewing its registration for the fifth time in 2013, Aeroflot has successfully passed the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) and is fully ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 compliant. In 2014 Aeroflot was named by SKYTRAX as the Best Airline in Eastern Europe for the third time. Find more at http://www.aeroflot.com.

SOURCE: Aeroflot