UGT has extended to all its bases in Spain the strike that it was going to apply from August 15 in the 'handling' (ground services) of Ryanair, in protest against sanctions against workers and the abuse of complementary hours.
The strike in Azul Handling (Ryanair's 'handling' subsidiary) will take place on August 15, 16 and 17 and will continue every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until December 31, 2025, UGT has reported in a statement.
The call will affect all the company's bases and workplaces in Spain and will take place between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. and 11.59 p.m.
Ryanair's bases in Spain, according to its own website, are located in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Alicante, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Girona, Tenerife South, Lanzarote and Santiago.
The air sector of FeSMC-UGT has requested mediation from the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA), as a prior step to the call for this state strike in the company Azul Handling, which provides ground assistance services to the airlines of the Ryanair group in numerous airports.
UGT already called last Friday, together with CGT, 22 days of strike throughout the year, although this call was limited only to the airport of Barajas, a situation that now expands to all bases.
The strike is motivated by the sanctions against workers who refuse to work non-mandatory hours, with punishments of up to 36 days without employment or salary, and therefore criticizes that the person directly responsible for this strike "will be solely and exclusively the company and its reckless action with the staff."
The federal secretary of the air union of FeSMC-UGT, José Manuel Pérez Grande, has denounced that Azul Handling maintains "a strategy of precariousness and pressure on the staff that violates basic labor rights and systematically ignores union demands."
UGT demands that the company withdraw the sanctions, comply with the rulings of the Joint Commission and immediately open a real negotiation process, which allows improving the working conditions of the more than 3,000 workers affected throughout the national territory.
