for this high number of affiliates, apart from interest representation, is the ‘unwritten rule’
amongst pilots that one should be member of the VNV, and the social function the
organisation has for its members. Being extremely well-organized, well-informed and
higher educated, the pilots have the strongest bargaining power of all unions at KLM.
VNV is member of the International Federation of AirLine Pilots Association (IFALPA)
and the European Cockpit Association (ECA).
Ad 3. Apart from the three unions representing ground staff and the two unions
representing cabin crew and pilots, there are three other labour unions that represent
specific categories of staff at KLM. The Association for Higher KLM Staff (Vereniging
voor Hoger KLM Personeel, VHKP) represents -according to the organisation- about 40
percent of higher staff at KLM (another 25 percent of the higher staff at KLM are
members of FNV Bondgenoten). VHKP is signatory to the KLM collective agreement
and participates in KLM's internal discussions about the reorganisation of the company
(‘Focus 2000’ and ‘Baseline’) but does not operate outside KLM. The VHKP is not
affiliated to any national or European organisation, although there are talks with VHP
(affiliated to Unie MHP).
The second KLM-based union is the Association of KLM Flight Engineers (Vereniging
van KLM Boordwerktuigkundigen). The organisation is not affiliated to a national
association but is a member of the International Flight Engineers Organisation (IFEO).
Since May 2002 a new third company-based categorial union at KLM represents the
interests of the approximately 800 ground machine technicians (grondwerktuigkundigen).
11