Simon Jessop & Gwladys Fuouche

LONDON (Reuters – 14 investors called for Wizz Air, a budget airline, to permit its employees to join and form trade unions. They were concerned that the company actively discouraged the practice and violated their human rights.

This group includes the AkademikerPension of Denmark and Ardevora Asset Management of Britain. They said that the right to unionize was protected by a variety of international and regional laws and conventions. However, their research revealed a pattern in the behavior of the company, which they believe prevented employees from joining.

Wizz Air didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Reuters saw the letter and found six examples that date back to 2014. This was after 19 workers were fired shortly after forming a union.

In June 2020, investors received a letter quoting a conversation with Jozsef Varradi, Chief Executive of the company. He stated that the company is “keeping out all unions” because they are “killing the business”.

Wizz Air refused Italian union calls for a Labour Contract in April 2021. Instead, it told Italy’s labor ministry it intended to continue operating without unions.

Jens Munch Holst is chief executive at AkademikerPension a Danish pension fund valued at $23B.

There is increasing evidence that workers are being prevented from joining unions and if they do, fired. This is unacceptable.

Although the shareholders acknowledged that the company attempted to manage labor relations via an internal body called the Wizz People Council (the Wizz People Council), they expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Wizz People Council in communicating concerns from employees to the management.

Investors specifically referred to the recent whistleblower report that raised concerns about pilot fatigue and safety.

According to the letter, “Recognizing workers’ freedoms to form or join unions not only is an employer’s legal and moral responsibility but it also serves as a risk mitigation strategy.”

“To address our concerns, Wizz Air should publicly and officially recognize the rights of employees to form and join unions. We also encourage Wizz Air not to discriminate on the grounds that they are union members.”

Holst, AkademikerPension’s director of investment, stated that if the board failed to act his fund would abandon its stake.

We have no other options but to exclusion the company and divest all of our holdings if the company is not responsive.

Our message to the company is clear. If we do not receive our requests for meeting, we will continue to wait until December 20th.