A Spanish union has announced that Ryanair's cabin staff will go on strike for six days in late June and early July.
After disagreements over working conditions and pay, the staff will walk out on June 24, 25, 27 and 30 as well as July 1 and 2, according to USO union. While UK Ryanair staff have not announced a strike, British holidaymakers may still be affected if they plan on flying to any Spanish destination during the summer.
Last week, the SITCPLA and USO labour unions demanded an uplift as they have "no other option" but to go on strike if it's not given following Ryanair's abandonment of talks with the union on Tuesday. USO and SITCPLA made a joint statement condemning Ryanair for its lack of commitment to open dialogue with workers.
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Last week a spokesperson for the latter union said: “We’re coordinating our actions with European counterparts.” Negotiations towards achieving a collective agreement "almost made no progress" due to the unions' “unrealistic demands and refusal to meaningfully engage,” a letter from Ryanair said following the failed talks.
It is not yet clear how many flights will be affected by the strikes. 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.”
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