Air Europa pilots begin another 14-day strike

MADRID, 19 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla) begins the third batch of strikes at the airline Air Europa that will last until July 2 after breaking a preliminary agreement on wage increases.

These new strikes are added to those that took place during the first week of May as well as those of the two preceding weeks, which as a whole caused the cancellation of 182 flights.

The Air Europa pilots begin this Monday a total of 14 new days of strike until July 2 at all the bases and work centers in Spain, called by Sepla due to the company's refusal to accept their salary demands and the signing of of the IV Collective Agreement.

As a result, the company has canceled this Monday, June 19, a total of 15 flights (6 round-trip flights): Madrid-Bilbao, Madrid-Palma, Madrid-Málaga, Palma-Barcelona, ​​Madrid-Paris (Orly ) and Asunción Córdoba, as well as Asunción(Paraguay)-Madrid, Madrid-Córdoba (Argentina) and Madrid-Malaga.

For affected passengers, the airline offers them the possibility of flying within 30 days after the date of their original flight and on the same route; on another route to another destination operated by Air Europa, within 3 days before or after the original date of your flight; or save the amount of the ticket to use it as a credit in a future purchase for any destination operated by the company.

According to Sepla, the strike is taking place again despite the fact that the company and the pilots reached an agreement in principle on June 8, which unblocked the labor dispute, but which was not respected by the management of Air Europa.

According to the union, the pre-agreement separated the salary update from the transfer of labor rights contained in the IV collective agreement, but "it vanished" the next day when the company presented "a radically different document in which the update was linked insufficient salary with the resignation of part of the acquired labor rights".

Sepla points out that this would mean a "low cost" of the pilot profession at Air Europa. As reported in a statement, "the plans unveiled by the airline" try to "reduce the cost of the group by impoverishing the rights and working conditions of the new pilots who join the airline."

For Sepla it is "inconceivable that managers are acting in bad faith and playing unfairly with the future of Air Europa and its workers."

In addition, they highlight that the union "gave in its just demands and verbally agreed to an insufficient salary update but that allowed the strike to be unblocked", but that "it will be very difficult to trust again in the business management that, with its lack of scruples, has regressed to its position for the month of March".

Likewise, Sepla denounces the "lack of specificity" in the proposals raised by the company in the conversations for the drafting of the V Collective Agreement.

The union, which has already met with the airline according to the established calendar, warns that the managers "only contemplate a new agreement with lower working conditions", which will mean, among other things, "a salary proposal below of the CPI, as well as the loss of work-life balance for workers".

For all these reasons, Sepla assures that it continues with the call for the strike between June 19 and July 2.

The union has denounced the "abusive setting" of the minimum services by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.