The unions USCA and CCOO have called a strike of air traffic controllers in the privatized control towers of Spanish airports, including that of the Lanzarote airport, on January 30 and February 6, 13, 20 and 27, due to the failure of negotiations for the IV collective agreement of the sector.
In addition to the Lanzarote airport, this call is aimed at professionals who provide control services in the towers of the airports of A Coruña, Alicante-Elche, Castellón, Cuatro Vientos, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Jerez, La Palma, Lleida, Murcia, Sabadell, Seville, Valencia and Vigo.
These unions were negotiating the collective agreement with the business association APCTA, which includes the private providers of the liberalized market SAERCO and FerroNATS, but have finally broken off negotiations.
These are five consecutive Mondays starting on January 30 and all professionals who have work shifts that begin between 00:00 and 24:00 on those days are called.
The announcement coincides with the inauguration of FITUR
As they explained in a joint statement, both unions especially criticize the attitude of SAERCO, "opposed to reaching any kind of agreement" and which has "hindered from the first moment" the union proposals, despite the fact that with FerroNATS, "significant points in common" have been reached.
The unions also warn that "the system cannot function based on the efforts of a fatigued workforce and with constant cuts in rights consolidated in the past".
The call for a strike has been announced coinciding with the opening day of FITUR, which opened its doors this Wednesday in what is expected to be the edition of the full recovery of tourism, the country's main economic activity.
In that sense, USCA and CCOO argue that closing a new agreement is particularly "necessary at this time of recovery of air traffic, and even more so when the image of the country's main economic activity would be harmed by the level of delays in its airports".
