01:36 pm - Thursday
Iberia's steward and hostess announce heavy series of strikes in December
Madrid, Spain - More arm wrestling between trade unions and airline's management, already in serious difficulties
(WAPA) - The arm wrestling between Spanish national air company Iberia, and the union representations of stewards and hostesses of the airlines (CTA and SITCPLA), grew yesterday in the announcement of a new and heavy calendar of strikes.
The two trade-unions have in fact launched an appeal to the strike planned for the 30th November, and for the 1, 2, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 December. The announcement arrives after ten days of talks and agitation that have already forced an Iberia, already in strong financial crisis, to cancel a total of 368 flights, causing hardships to about 33,000 passengers only on Tuesday, is read in a note of the air company.
The crew is protesting against Iberia's refusal to re-negotiate the collective work contract and the contents of the new industrial plan. The trade unions are asking for a reassessment of 4.14% of their salaries, frozen since 2005, for the years 2008-2009. In its part, Iberia answers that its recent industrial plan, which went up last 22nd October, foresees the block of new workers until 2012, the freezing of the salaries for the years 2010-2011, the early retirement of the crew who is older than 55, setting measures in redundancy payment for 200 ground clerks and a cut down the expenses of about EUR 37 m per year in 2011 and in 2012.
In the meantime, the air company has decided to reinforce long-term routes, in particular the more profitable connections with Latin America. The Iberia matter is currently in these days becoming a replica of the old Alitalia story, and as happened back then, a sequence of strikes join in a moment of extreme weakness of the airline, which has announced a net loss of EUR 72.8million during the second quarter of 2009, and of which the merger with British Airways is, with difficulty, in discussion process. (Avionews)
(jos)
Direttore Clara Moschini