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Spain's Cabin Crew Unions Announce 12 More Days Of Travel Strikes Spain News

Following six days of strikes in June, Ryanair cabin crew who are based in Spain, will down their tools for another twelve days during the month of July.

Unions USO and SICTPLA, made the announcement declaring that from July 12th to 15th, July 18th to 21st and July 25th to 28th, all Ryanair cabin crew based at ten Spanish airports will not be working.

Six days of strikes in June have already taken place and caused more than 1,000 delays in Spain and 200 flight cancellations. On Saturday alone, there were 10 cancellations and 123 delays, affecting roundtrip routes between Berlin and Ibiza, Malaga and Aberdeen, London and Ibiza, Marseille and Santiago de Compostela and Glasgow and Malaga.

The unions are demanding a change of attitude from the low-budget airline and better working conditions for its cabin crew staff.

USO spokesperson Laura Arrasanz, has asked the Spanish government and the Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, to mediate in this situation due to the "impassiveness" of the airline, emphasising that “We are not third party workers.

She has demanded that the government act against "a company that does not abide by court rulings, does not comply with the law and uses fear, coercion and threats against its employees."

Arrasanz has criticised the fact that the company prefers to leave thousands of passengers “stranded on the ground” instead of sitting with its workers under Spanish law, at the negotiating table.

Speaking to Spain-based newspaper SUR, during a recent visit to Malaga, the DAC CEO Eddie Wilson of the Irish budget airline said that the unions were blackmailing both the company and the travellers.

He claimed that the two unions mentioned are asking for a 165% wage increase and that the airline had already reached a good deal with the larger CC OO union.

Ryanair cabin crew are not the only ones who are demanding better working conditions, as easyJet cabin crew began the first of their three 72-hour strikes on July 1st.

These strikes will affect flights from Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca, with the next ones taking place on July 15th,16th and 17th and again on July 29th,30th and 31st.

British Airways Heathrow staff have also voted to strike with dates still to be announced.

Staff are taking action over an ongoing pay dispute and it is believed that these strikes will coincide with school holidays.

During the Covid pandemic, employees had their pay docked by 10% and have requested for it to be reinstated.

The airline has offered the staff a one-off 10% bonus this year but this offer has been rejected.

These actions come at the busiest time of the year for airlines, as the school holidays are approaching and many will be getting ready to head off to the popular holiday destination.

Sources

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1635024/ryanair-staff-strikes-spain-easyjet-list-latest-news
https://www.surinenglish.com/spain/ryanair-easyjet-strikes-spain-20220702152035-nt.html
https://spanishnewstoday.com/ryanair_announces_12_more_strike_days_in_spain_1797106-a.html