Brits flying to Spain next week could find themselves in the midst of an airline strike, with staff walking out over pay conditions.
Ryanair's Spanish cabin staff are due to go on strike for six days, walking out on June 24, 25, 26 and 30, and on July 1 and 2. The strike is over working conditions and pay, according to the USO union, the Mirror reports.
Staff working for Ryanair in the UK have not announced a similar strike, but those flying to Spain at the same time as the industrial action could find themselves impacted by the lack of staff. It is not clear exactly how many staff are striking or what this will mean for passengers.
Labour organisations SITCPLA and USO come together last week to demand more pay for staff and said that they will have "no other option" but to strike, unless the demands are met. But Ryaniar, Europe's largest budget airline, walked away from talks on Tuesday, with no deal being struck.
A spokesperson for USO said that the union is "coordinating [its] actions with European counterparts". USO and STCPLA said in a joint statement that Ryanair lacked commitment to dialogue and accused the airline of acting in bad faith.
This comes after negotiations on a collective agreement made "almost made no progress" due to the unions’ "unrealistic demands and refusal to meaningfully engage," a letter from Ryanair said following the failed talks.
A spokesperson for Ryanair told The Mirror last week: “Ryanair has negotiated collective agreements covering 90% of our people across Europe. In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase. Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.
"In Spain, we are pleased to have reached a collective agreement with CCOO, Spain’s largest and most representative union, delivering improvements for Spanish-based cabin crew and reinforcing Ryanair’s commitment to the welfare of its cabin crew.
"These announcements by the much smaller USO and SITCPLA unions are a distraction from their own failures to deliver agreements after three years of negotiations and we believe that any strikes they call will not be supported by our Spanish crews.”
Ryanair has been contacted for further comment.
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