Air France union meets over Iran headscarf row

Unions for Air France cabin crew hold talks with management after several female crew members opposed an order to wear a headscarf in Iran, when flights to Tehran resume on April 17.

Flore Arrighi of the Unac union says before the meeting that she was expecting the airline’s head of human resources, Gilles Gateau, to come up with proposals to end the row.

The unions say company chiefs sent staff an internal memo saying that female cabin crew will be required to wear trousers during the flight with a loose fitting jacket and that they must put on a scarf covering their hair when they leave the plane.

The headscarf rule is already in place when flying to certain destinations, such as Saudi Arabia.

But the union says it wants the Tehran flights to be staffed on a voluntary basis and that any staff who refuse to fly to Iran due to the headscarf rule will not have pay deducted and the refusal will not be noted on their professional record.

Caroline Rolland of the CGT union says if Air France refused the unions’ proposals, cabin crew members will bend the rules by taking the day off claiming they have a sick child, or that they themselves are ill. In that case they would lose a day’s salary.

“That’s the price to pay for refusing,” she says.

— AFP