Has anything exciting happened for you during Congress?
Yes. I have just been elected as a civil aviation section committee member.

How did this come about?
I had a wonderful chance last year to be with the European Trade Union Confederation and the ETF, then with the ITF, for half a year’s training, as a secondment. But I was really surprised and excited when people put me forward as a candidate.

How will you juggle all these responsibilities?
It is a lot of work, but I like it. If it’s talks and negotiations with the company, you get time off for it, but the international work will have to be on my days off. I don’t mind that at all. I do it for my people at home and now I am glad I can also contribute to the work of the ITF.

"We have one big airline, and there is no other way to exchange experiences except through international work."

How have you found Congress?
It’s my first ITF congress, though I attended the ETF’s last year. I am enjoying the opportunity to meet people from other sectors of transport – normally we only work very closely with people from civil aviation. Also I have been socialising in the evenings with people from different regions, and it’s been great seeing some familiar faces from when I went to the ITF summer school last year.

What’s been the most interesting topic?
The main one, organising globally. We are the only union representing civil aviation workers in my country. We have one big airline, and there is no other way to exchange experiences except through international work.

Are your cabin crew colleagues interested in international issues?
Yes, they are fully aware of them, and how important they are. At the moment, European work for us is paramount, with the social dialogue going on. We have achieved many things through that – setting up common standards.

What’s the biggest issue for your cabin crew members right now?
Cabin crew licensing. In the aviation safety chain, all professionals are licensed and cabin crews are the exceptions. The licence has to be issued by the state authority, so you can take your licence when you leave one airline. That means you don’t lose all your qualifications and have to do your training again. So we are looking at a common European licence for cabin crew.