MADRID, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Thursday’s meeting between the unions and Iberia ended without an agreement and the strike call for its handling workers remains in place for four days starting tomorrow, January 5, as confirmed by sources close to Europa Press.
Today’s meeting was a last opportunity to find a common point to avoid this action in the middle of the Three Kings’ holiday and the return operation after Christmas.
However, the strike, called by UGT, CC.OO, USO and the Intercompany Committee, will continue as the differences have not been resolved. The unions have already announced other calls for the December long weekend and early Christmas that were postponed in order to continue negotiating.
UGT, CCOO, USO and the Intercentros Committee have called the workers of this Iberia subsidiary to strike after the company lost its operator license at eight of the large airports in the last Aena contest.
According to the agreement, these employees would be subrogated to the new winning company and the unions fear that this could cause a reduction in the labor rights that Iberia workers now enjoy.
For this reason, they have asked the company on numerous occasions to adopt ‘autohandling’ and thus maintain a large part of its workforce, which the company considers unviable.
This is the third strike call that the unions have launched for these workers after the contest. The first two, dated for the December long weekend and the beginning of Christmas, were called off with the commitment to continue negotiating.
The strike has forced Iberia, Iberia Express and Air Nostrum to cancel more than 444 flights, affecting more than 45,000 passengers. The company has already found accommodation for 92% of them, either being relocated to other flights, dates or times, or if they have preferred, receiving a refund for their tickets.
The company has assured that it continues working to relocate the rest according to possibilities, taking into account the complexity of the dates, just after Christmas, and the high load factor of the flights.
Customers who wish to do so can still request their changes through the Iberia website, the travel agencies where they made the purchase or the company’s Customer Service Center, which has reinforced its staff, but in the You may find there is a longer wait time than usual.
Once again, Iberia has thanked all its customers for their understanding and patience and apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the strike called by the airport services unions.
The Corporate Director of Iberia, Juan Cierco, has regretted that the company has been forced to cancel these flights and has pointed out that “even if there is a cancellation at the last minute, it would be impossible to reschedule them”, due to the “technical complexity” that already there would be no margin.
