UK travellers heading to Spain between now and Easter have been warned of strikes at some of the country's busiest airports. Workers with Swissport have called a series of 24-hour walkouts after negotiations that have been taking place since March 2022 failed.
The industrial action will happen every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, starting next Monday, February 27, and continuing until April 13. The unions have been engaged in an eight-year dispute with Swissport over working conditions, the Mirror reports.
A spokesperson said: “This is the reality faced by the workers of Swissport Handling and for which it has been decided to say ENOUGH. We will not allow workers to have to give up the improvements they have been waiting for for years.”
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Swissport Handling provides services at the Spanish airports of Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Reus, Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería, Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos, Logroño, Zaragoza, Huesca, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur.
It provides services to passengers and ramp assistance, except at Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur, where it assists executive aviation companies. In Madrid and Malaga, Swissport operates air cargo handling services.
Its clients include the airlines Aegean Airlines, Aer Lingus, Air France, Brussels Airlines, Czech Airlines, Emirates, Finnair, Iberia Express, Icelandair, Iran Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish Airlines and Vueling.
Unions must provide a minimum service under Spanish law, so it remains to be seen what impact the walkouts will have on flights. But it is possible that holidaymakers will see some disruption.
It comes amid a wave of strikes across the whole of Europe. In France, unions and the Government are in dispute over pensions, with industrial action planned for March.
The country's transport network will be targeted by eight unions, according to French newspaper Le Monde. Workers are planning a “black day” on March 7 which will “bring France to a standstill”.
Striking workers are opposing a planned lifting of the state pension age from 62 to 64. Polling suggests around 70 percent of the population opposes President Macron's pension reform plans – with a petition against the proposals having gained more than a million signatures.
A spokesperson for Swissport said: “We regret to confirm that the industrial action is scheduled to begin at airports across Spain on 27th February 2023. A comprehensive contingency plan is in place to limit disruptions to our airline customers and passengers traveling via Spanish airports.
"At Swissport, we are convinced that agreements must be found at the negotiating table.
"We remain fully committed to reaching an agreement with union representatives and our staff, that will be acceptable to our colleagues while also preserving the stability and health of the company and offering attractive jobs in the Spanish aviation sector."
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