Airbus Group Management has initiated a review of the balance between remote work and on-site presence. Our organizations FO and CFE-CGC have learned of this initiative and reiterate the fundamental principles of the current agreement.
Remote work: a major achievement and a lever for efficiency.
For our organizations, remote work is now a structural element of our work organization and a fundamental pillar of Quality of Life at Work. While it is not an automatic right, it is essential for:
- Airbus's attractiveness and future recruitment,
- Work-life balance,
- Employee engagement and efficiency.
The current agreement is clear: it places line management at the heart of remote work implementation, allowing for close adaptation to serve both efficiency and teamwork.
Imposing a return to the previous system would wipe out the locally implemented arrangements. This would be a blatant snub to our managers, especially since the YourSay survey highlighted the vital need to strengthen their decision-making power (responsibility & empowerment)!
Furthermore, several concrete and unavoidable realities, such as capacity limitations and infrastructure saturation, cannot be ignored.
What the agreement says about unilateral changes: the agreement protects employees against arbitrary changes:
- The teleworking arrangement is formalized by a form completed and signed by the employee and the line manager.
- Any change initiated by the line manager requires one month's notice and must be justified in writing.
The line manager is responsible for initiating discussions to define the collective work organization and validate the teleworking framework applicable to each member of their team. Consequently, if a manager has authorized teleworking (for example, 2 days/week), any reversal must be justified in writing. This justification cannot be limited to a simple directive from upper Management.
The line manager must provide concrete reasons why what was operationally acceptable yesterday is no longer acceptable today within their team and in light of each employee's professional situation.
Our organizations request that Management:
- Respect its signature on the agreement,
- Immediately cease the chaotic communications disseminated by certain managers, particularly the directives regarding 80% on-site presence, which are contrary to our agreement,
- Exercise discernment in the implementation of teleworking, taking into account the needs and realities of the departments, the vast majority of which already operate effectively through a balanced and pragmatic application of teleworking.