The controllers of liberalized towers are continuing the strike that began last February, although in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro and La Gomera they will not temporarily support it during this Christmas season, after a new meeting to negotiate the new collective agreement for the sector failed yesterday.
The strike continues these days at the airports of Burgos, Castellón, Coruña, Cuatro Vientos, Huesca, Jerez, La Palma, Seville and Vigo, also managed by the company Saerco, which accused the Air Traffic Controllers Union (USCA) - the majority union in the sector - this Thursday of proposing a salary increase that is "unaffordable" for any company.
Saerco has stated in a statement that at the meeting of the negotiating committee of the IV collective agreement in the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA), USCA proposed a salary increase of over 35%.
However, sources from USCA have told EFE that in their proposal yesterday they have reduced "their economic demands a lot" and what they are asking for is an increase in line with the CPI.
For its part, Saerco has reported that it proposed to increase the salary by 3% in 2024, a percentage that, together with the 3.3% already planned by the current agreement, would increase the income of workers by 6% in 2024, a proposal that was also supported by the employers' association of the sector APCTA, which brings together the civil providers of the liberalized towers.
Saerco has added in a statement that the air traffic sector, because it depends on concessions, maintains the income fixed by the administration for years and, in addition, more than 90% of its costs are borne by human resources.
The union has explained that it was convinced that the company would accept its proposal, as it is simply the increase in the CPI, but the SIMA mediator suspended the meeting, saying that the proposals of both parties were very distant and that it would be impossible to reach an agreement.
For USCA, all this shows that Saerco has no real interest in solving the situation and will be "solely responsible for the delays that may occur, motivated by the strike".
In the Canary Islands, even so, the controllers have decided not to support the strike at Christmas, so as not to harm either visitors or residents of the archipelago who are traveling during these dates, and to resume it from January 7th.
