Spanish trade unions on Wednesday announced that the next two stoppage days by ground handling staff at 12 airports will not go ahead as negotiations over work conditions have begun, following a week of walkouts which caused delays and baggage issues.
Spain’s main trade unions CCOO, UGT, and USO have decided to suspend the strikes scheduled for today Wednesday April 8th and Friday 10th by Groundforce staff, a company offering ground handling services at Spain’s busiest airports.
This follows recent talks with Groundforce’s management following a dispute concerning the wage demands of its employees.
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As a result of these initial contacts, the three trade unions will meet with Groundforce’s board on Friday April 10th to try to find a solution.
“The conflict is far from resolved, but it’s always good to return to dialogue,” union sources told Spanish news agency Europa Press, insisting that the indefinite strike will “continue its course” if a satisfactory deal isn’t reached.
Since March 30th, Groundforce workers have staged walkouts at airports in Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Málaga, Las Palmas, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Bilbao.
These have been held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until a deal is reached. The action is organised in three time slots: from 5:00 am to 7:00 am, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm and from 10:00 pm to midnight.
There have been reports in the Spanish press saying that there have been dozens of flights delayed and baggage not loaded onto planes at some of the affected airports.
READ ALSO: Second week of airport strikes in Spain to cause more delays and baggage issues
However, readers who’ve travelled to and from Spain over the busy Easter period have commented on our previous articles saying that they didn’t experience any problems with their flights.
Air traffic controllers at 14 of Spain’s smaller airports on Tuesday also called stoppages from mid-April.
