The unions affirm that if there is a surplus of staff that represents an extra cost, they should carry out an ERE
The UGT and CCOO unions have refused to continue negotiations with the Iberia airline and have resumed the call for a strike for handling workers during Christmas, this time for January 5, 6, 7 and 8, in the middle of the holidays. of Three Kings and operation return from the Christmas holidays.
According to a statement issued by Iberia, after a first meeting held with the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the unions have refused to continue with talks to find an alternative route to ‘autohandling’.
The company claims to have made an “ambitious” offer that would serve to “further strengthen the rights of workers”, guaranteeing the V Convention of the sector “for life.”
The offer made by Iberia would guarantee, according to the airline, all jobs through subrogation, so there would be “neither job destruction nor direct elimination of jobs.”
In addition, it also guarantees the salary calculated based on the last 12 months, the same annual working hours and vacation days as the last year, the worker’s seniority, the same type of contract and work group, the salary review established in the agreement, as well such as acquired rights over the use of airline tickets and pension plans.
CREATION OF A HYBRID MODEL
During the meeting, the company put on the table the creation of a hybrid model owned by an IAG group company, exploring the possibility of this vehicle being 100% owned by the IAG group at airports where it “made sense”, which would carry out the handling for all IAG airlines in the eight airports in which the company lost the license following the Aena ground services competition and which would preserve the competitive position of the business. However, this proposal has been rejected by the unions.
Iberia assures that after the strike call confirmed today, “the proposals made by the company are automatically withdrawn.” Therefore, the only solution contemplated is subrogation to the companies awarded the Aena tender. Iberia assures that it will facilitate this subrogation process and will ensure that “all legally established guarantees” are respected.
CALL FOR RESPONSIBILITY
In the statement made public after learning of the strike call by the unions, Iberia reiterates its call to call off the strike and asks the unions to “return to the path of responsibility.”
The company assures that it is not going to carry out autohandling due to the “significant impact” that it would have on its accounts and, especially, due to the notable loss of competitiveness in favor of the airlines that would serve the companies awarded the Aena tender. “Autohandling at the eight airports would deal a definitive blow to the future of the ground service business,” the airline says.
“A strike in the middle of the Three Kings holidays will only cause enormous damage, especially to thousands of travelers who choose those dates to enjoy with their families,” says the airline, which warns that calling a strike on these Christmas dates would affect more than 90 airline companies.
This same week UGT and CCOO had decided to postpone the strike call after the Government’s offer to mediate the conflict. Thus, this Wednesday, both unions held a series of conversations with the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to find a solution.
As detailed by the unions, within the framework of the negotiations the airline company proposed the creation of a company led by a winning bidder of the tenders, with a majority stake of 80%, together with a minority company that belonged to IAG, which would be Yellow. Handling.
The unions considered that this “invention” was “illegal” for not complying with the corresponding royal decree. In his opinion, this would mean a segregation of the business and, in turn, non-compliance with the agreements signed in the latest agreements.
THE UNIONS SEE AN EXERCISE OF “TRILERISM AND PRESTIDIGITATION”
The unions claim that during the meeting that week at the Iberia headquarters the company carried out an exercise in “trilerism and sleight of hand.” As negotiation sources explained to Europa Press, the Ministry of Transport proposed alternatives on which to establish new negotiation channels and try to reach an agreement for airport workers affected by the loss of handling licenses.
As Europa Press has learned during the conversations, the possibility of a company 100% owned by Iberia that would manage autohandling was discussed and despite progress in that design, “nothing was finalized.” The unions reaffirm that Iberia must take charge of the assistance of the IAG group companies “on its own.”
The unions demand that the company guarantee a viability plan for the handling business, a solution for the eight affected airports, and that in the event of surplus staff that represents an extra cost to the new operation, that it carry out a “express agreed separation agreement” (ERE).
The unions assure that the “opportunistic” attitude of the company’s management leaves them no other way than to call for mobilizations from January 5 to 8, reiterating that “the irresponsibility is once again the company’s responsibility.”
