Spain’s airline pilots are proposing a summer strike via their union Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (SEPLA). This is an ongoing protest against the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agency’s application of a “minimum services” law that requires pilots to report to work to service at a minimum 90% of scheduled flights even while engaged in labor action to protest pay rates.
“Minimum services” making Spanish pilots fly against their will
In a statement, SEPLA made clear that since the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agency was found 15 times by the Spanish National Court to be in violation of the right to a full strike, especially for both Air Europa pilots and the Iberia Regional Air Nostrum pilots seeking a significant pay rise, In the Spanish Constitution SEPLA will be seeking “precautionary measures.” These measures include more strike days and expanding striking activity to other labor groups to pressure airline management to “negotiate a fair solution.”
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As SEPLA Legal Director Óscar Orgeira alleged in a May 11 web posting:
In the calls for strikes, the claims of the airlines on the minimum services always coincide with those subsequently decreed by MITMA. In the end, you realize that the ministry and the airlines protect the same interest: the economic interest of the operators.
Therein lies the rub. In politics, so often, perceptions become a reality. As such, the risk of escalatory strike activity increases.
According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin’s reporting, other work groups such as air traffic controllers, flight attendants, and possibly ground transportation could join in the strike actions to pressure both the airlines and the Spanish Government. However, SEPLA Secretary-General Javier Fernández-Picazo told the Majorca Daily Bulletin, “It is a decision that has to be evaluated and negotiated.”
SEPLA represents the following airlines:
Worth noting that SEPLA represents pilots in these airlines that have Spanish bases:
- Air Nostrum (pictured above)
- Air Europa
- easyJet
- Eurowings
- Evelop
- Iberia
- Iberia Express
- Jet 2
- Norweigian
- Plus Ultra
- Ryanair
- Swiftair
- Vueling
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Air Europa strike activity continuing
Meanwhile, Air Europa strike activity will continue. According to a May 8 SEPLA statement, SEPLA is calling to expand strike activity to May 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, and 30, plus June 1 and 2 at all Spanish bases and work centers of Air Europa. This is due to management’s obstinacy at the bargaining table. Multiple news outlets report that the strike activity will go into the summer months without a negotiated deal.
As was the case when the strike occurred, SEPLA explained the cause was;
“It’s disheartening that Air Europa’s managers continue to ignore the pilots’ call for a rise in wages, which have remained stagnant for the past few years and have resulted in a loss of purchasing power, despite the fact that the airline has increased its flight prices by 54% in the last year.”
What are your thoughts? Please share with civility in the comments section.
Sources: May 8 SEPLA, May 11 SEPLA, May 12 Majorca Daily Bulletin, May 12 SEPLA