Spanish Unions Plan Airport Strikes During Holiday Period
Spanish unions representing ground service workers at Iberia, have scheduled a walkout from December 29, 2023, to January 1, 2024, and from January 4 to January 7.
Spanish unions representing ground service workers at Iberia, have scheduled a walkout from December 29, 2023, to January 1, 2024, and from January 4 to January 7.
DALLAS — The Spanish Workers' Commission (CCOO) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), which represent ground service workers at Iberia (IB), have scheduled a walkout from December 29, 2023, to January 1, 2024, and from January 4 to January 7. However, official paperwork for the walkout has not been filed yet.
A new provider signed a contract in September, and ground service workers, including baggage handlers, will be conducting strikes at Spanish commercial airports controlled by government-owned Aena. The strikes are in protest against the new contract.
The strikes will "cause irreparable damage to the right to holidays and the reunification of friends and families on such important dates," Iberia said in a statement denouncing them as "irresponsible." However, labor unions and employees believe that IB's refusal to establish a "self-handling" operation in airports where a public tender was lost justifies the walkout.
The airline plans to outsource luggage handling, a move that has raised concerns among employees about the potential negative impact on their working conditions. In total, the decision will affect around 7,000 employees of the IB Airport Services division.
Iberia contends that "self-handling" luggage would seriously impair the competitiveness of the business and all other carriers from the Anglo-Spanish conglomerate, International Airlines Group (IAG). IAG is the parent company of IB, British Airways (BA), Vueling (VY), Aer Lingus (EI), and LEVEL, the latter of which is to become an independent airline from IB under IAG.
Feature image: Iberia. Photo: Ioan Alonso Gil/Airways
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