Spanish airport workers threaten to strike
Millions of air passengers may face months of travel chaos, after Spanish airport workers threatened a series of strikes stretching from Easter until the end of summer.
A dispute involving Aena, the Spanish state-owned firm that runs the country’s key airports, could mean a total of 22 days of stoppages beginning on 20 April.
The workers have earmarked dates in May, June, July and August for further industrial action involving airport runway staff. The planned stoppages are being held to protest against the government’s plans to sell off parts of the company.
Although Aena says baggage handlers and air traffic controllers will not be affected, budget airline Ryanair has demanded EU action to prevent a repeat of the misery that blighted flights across Europe last year.
Industrial action in December affected hundreds of thousands of international passengers, leading the Spanish government to declare a state of emergency and threaten strikers with imprisonment.
Speaking in Madrid, the Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, said: “Europe’s airlines and passengers suffered at the hands of air traffic control providers throughout 2010.
“Now, ahead of yet another Spanish strike, Ryanair is calling on the EU to take action to prevent further strike action. Ryanair will not allow its passengers to be inconvenienced further by the selfish strike action by Aena workers.”
He added: “Action must be taken at EU level to ensure that the ‘right to strike’ is removed from essential airport services, and competition must be introduced across Europe’s air traffic control providers to ensure that a strike in one country is not be allowed to disrupt millions of passengers’ travel plans.”
Ryanair is pressing for open competition in national air traffic control systems. This would form part of a European network allowing one country to manage the airspace of neighbouring countries to prevent flights being cancelled or delayed during industrial action.
The airline says European airports services are essential and should be protected by anti-strike clauses.
A spokeswoman for the low-cost airline BmiBaby – which flies to Spain from East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester airports – said: “We urge the parties involved to resolve this dispute as a matter of urgency so that any disruption to our customers can be avoided.”
A spokesman for Abta pointed out that the Spanish industrial action was “only a proposed strike”, adding: “Chances are it won’t go ahead.”
The proposed Spanish strikes could coincide with industrial action by BA cabin crew, who are being balloted on whether to strike by the trade union Unite. The ballot, which opened at the beginning of the month, closes in less than three weeks’ time.
Twenty-two days of strikes were held last year, costing BA £150m and causing travel chaos for millions of passengers
via guardian.co.uk
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