GARDERMOEN (VG) Pilots believe they have nothing more to give, and Norwegian Pilots Association leaders say they are willing to go on strike for weeks.

That’s not headed for a quick solution in the SAS strike, because as of Tuesday, proposals had been hard on both sides.

SAS CEO Anko van der Werff asked in an interview with E24 the pilot returned to the negotiating table and ended the strike.

– Anko has my phone number and can call me at any time, as soon as he is ready for real negotiations, is the answer from Roger Klokset at the Norwegian SAS pilot association.

He said this after Norwegian SAS pilots held a large meeting at Oslo Airport on Tuesday. Therefore, neither the pilot nor the SAS asked the other party to call.

– What would it take for you to return to the negotiating table?

– SAS should contact us, and I suggest they do so as soon as possible, replied Klokset, but pointed out that SAS should also show a “significant” change in its position.

The same message came from union leader Aleksander Wasland at the Norwegian Pilots Association:

– The members are together and we are ready to fight.

– How long can this last? Is it willing to stand on this for weeks?

– Yes, we are willing to stand here as long as necessary, Wasland replied.

The pilots claim they have nothing more to give.

– No, we haven’t. We have gone as far as possible. We have reached the threshold of pain. 25 percent on already competitive terms, 60-hour work week, five percent pay cut, mandatory seasonal part-time for all pilots, says Klokset to the top.

– I don’t know where to find it, it just can’t be, said Klokset.

When asked if the strike principle was so important to them that they were willing to let the company go bankrupt, the pilot leader replied:

– The consequences of bankruptcy is up to management, how far they will go. But the principles are inalienable for us, we’ve been saying it all along, and if there’s one strike we can take, it’s this one, Klokset said.

About the latest offerings for SAS: – I think maybe we’ve gone too far

During the meeting, members were informed of the pilot’s latest offer to the SAS before the strike. That is, what they put on the SAS table – and they are willing to agree to it.

Even before the strike, Klokset believed that the pilots had gone to great lengths to meet with the company, that it was “in the border countries if the members agreed”.

– We’re just an extension of member wishes, so we need to get feedback on the offers we’ve added to SAS. “We may think we’ve gone too far, but it’s up to the members to decide,” Klokset said before entering the meeting.

If the members really thought they had gone too far, he wouldn’t have answered after the meeting.

However, the offer made by the pilot association leaders was not something SAS accepted.

Full war of words about bankruptcy protection

On Tuesday morning, SAS announced that they seek bankruptcy protection in the United States. This has sparked a strong reaction among the pilots. Jam said the pilot felt cheated.

– This reinforces our impression that this was a deliberate strike by management – to create a scapegoat, the lead pilot wrote in a press release.

They allege management had rehearsed and extended negotiations until the day before they filed for bankruptcy protection – with no intention of reaching an agreement.

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The head of SAS answered according to E24 on the charge by saying:

– Absolutely not true, we are very open and transparent, said SAS CEO Anko van der Werff at a press conference.

Chairman Dilling believes that management is always willing to sit at the negotiating table to find a solution.

The leader of the Norwegian Pilots Association said pilots were also willing to return to the negotiating table, but they would not relax the terms:

– There’s pretty clear feedback at the members’ meeting here that you can’t really give anything more. We have to see the movement from the SAS side, said Aleksander Wasland.

– They claim that they have been open and transparent and open all the way. Do you recognize yourself in it?

– No, I didn’t do that. “We didn’t experience that it was communicated at any point over the weekend that this was something that would happen,” Island replied.