Talks broke down this week that would lead to widespread disruption for travellers over Easter to airports in places like Mallorca and the Canary Islands
Palma de Mallorca Airport is one of the airports that has been at the centre of debate over industrial action(Image: Getty)
UK tourists have been given a significant update over planned strike action at multiple airports in Spain. Talks broke down this week before officials announced that strikes would be held over several dates in March and April.
Airports set to be affected by the measures included Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, , Gran Canaria, Málaga, Alicante, and Tenerife (South and North). Now an update has been reported in the Spanish press.
Two sets of strikes at Spanish airports have been partly cancelled, according to Spanish media reports. There had been concerns about extensive disruption at major airports throughout Spain owing to industrial action.
Larazon now reports that trade unions have postponed imminent strikes due to start today that would have seen staff at airport services operators Groundforce and Menzies walk out. The update comes after advances in wage negotiations – but strikes planned for later on have yet to be cancelled, according to local media.
Spanish reports say that trade unions have called off the first day of strike action at Groundforce, Air Europa’s ground handling company, and the first two days of the strike scheduled for this weekend at Menzies, another airport ground handling operator. This is according to sources from the UGT trade union speaking to Efe.
The partial and indefinite strikes planned Groundforce strikes were set to began this Friday. They would have coincided with the beginning of the Easter holiday exodus.
Ultimahora reports that the industrial action at Groundforce had been scheduled for the morning, afternoon and night shifts (from 5am to 7am, from 11am to 5pm, and from 10pm to midnight) with plans set to continue indefinitely. Additionally, the UGT has agreed to call off the first two days of industrial action at Menzies, planned for this Saturday and Sunday. In Menzies’ case, the strike had been called exclusively by UGT – the main union at the firm – for 28 and 29 March, and between 2 and 6 April.
The English language Majorca Daily Bulletin reports that 24-hour strikes for Menzies staff from April 2 to April 6 have not yet been scrapped. It also reported that there is no sign of further suspensions to the other planned strike action for Groundforce staff.
The strike notice at the ground handling operator covered all businesses within the group (Menzies Aviation Ibérica and Menzies Ground Services) and around 3,000 employees. The union had cautioned that, should no deal be struck with the company, the strikes would be rolled out to every weekend until the year’s end.
Groundforce operates at Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Málaga, Gran Canaria, Valencia, Ibiza, Bilbao, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Menzies operates at Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria, Tenerife South and Tenerife North.