Airports are going to have serious difficulties operating normally, after the unions UGT, CCOO and USO presented this Tuesday a strike notice for Aena workers for a total of 22 days, from Easter to the end of summer. The stoppages have already been registered with the Ministry of Labor. Nearly 11,000 workers are called to protest in this way against the partial privatization of Aena.
The first strikes coincide with the Easter holidays. Thus, the stoppages will affect people who have to fly on April 20, 21, 24, 25 and 30, that is, those leaving and returning from vacation. In addition, strikes have also been called for May 2, 14, 15, 19 and 20, as well as for June 13, 23 and 30, July 1, 2, 3, 4, 14 and 31 and, finally, August 1, 15 and 31.
For the moment, the president of Aena, Juan Lema, has urged the unions to negotiate to try to avoid the strike and to prevent it from endangering the Spanish economy. Lema has shown his "absolute willingness" to dialogue on the part of Aena and, to this end, has called the union representatives to a meeting next Thursday.
In this meeting, the president of Aena will try to "continue advancing in the negotiation with the unions and to call off the strike that would be very harmful to the Spanish economy." "We have made a lot of progress at the negotiating table and we are willing to continue doing so," said Juan Lema.
The president of Aena has warned that the strike days "would seriously affect the tourism sector at a time when the forecasts for both Easter and the summer season are very encouraging." In addition, he assured that it would also "deeply damage the air transport sector just when the recovery is gaining strength."
Avoid harm to passengers
For its part, the General Association of Consumers, (ASGECO), has made a call for unions and Aena to agree and try to avoid a new situation of "damages and losses for passengers", as already happened in December with the wildcat strike of air traffic controllers.
Faced with the possible strike situation of Aena personnel, ASGECO has recommended that passengers arrive at the airport with time to board since, during the Easter dates, for example, "collapses can occur." It has also reminded passengers not to forget to always have the necessary documentation at hand, in addition to the customer service numbers of the airlines.
ASGECO has also informed travelers that if there are delays or cancellations, they can claim through the usual channels or document themselves through the website www.noclamesreclama.org. In addition, it has recalled that the platform to claim compensation for the air chaos caused by the controllers in the December bridge remains open.
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