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Government rejects Union offer to end Air France strike

The longest strike in history for Air France-KLM continued Saturday with nearly half of its flights grounded after the government refused to name an independent mediator to settle the bitter feud over its budget subsidiary Transavia.

A plane of French regional airline unit Hop! takes off behind the retired Concorde number 5 at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, September 26, 2014.
A plane of French regional airline unit Hop! takes off behind the retired Concorde number 5 at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, September 26, 2014. Reuters/路透社
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In a “gesture of appeasement” The SNPL union said late Friday it was ready to end the strikes as soon government named an independent mediator.

However, the French prime minister’s office told AFP that there were “no grounds for new negotiations with a mediator.”

More than half of the airline’s 3,800 pilots are still refusing to work and have extended the strike until Tuesday.

The pilots say the airline’s most recent proposal to scale back on its plans for low-cost Transavia airlines has failed to respond to their concerns over pay and working conditions.

Under the latest proposal, Air France pilots flying temporarily with Transavia would be paid as an employee with the low-cost carrier. However, during this time they would still be accumulating hours to be put towards Air France seniority and would be paid as Air France pilots upon their return.

Nearly in its second week, the strike has become the longest in history for Europe’s second-largest flag carrier.

It has cost an estimated €15 million to €20 million ($19 million to $25 million) a day.

Air France’s share price has fallen nearly 15 percent since the strike began.

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