The unions have finally suspended the first day of strike at Groundforce, Air Europa's ground services company and which operates 40% of flights at Lanzarote airport. In addition, they have also paralyzed the first two days of the one called at Menzies, another airport ground staff operator (known as 'handling'), for this weekend, according to UGT sources told EFE.
The partial and indefinite strikes planned at Groundforce, which started this Friday, coinciding with the Easter holiday exodus, had been called by the unions CCOO, UGT and USO due to salary discrepancies with the company.
Specifically, regarding the "correct" application of the salary tables and, in particular, on the application of the differential derived from the CPI and the guarantee of purchasing power included in the agreement.
The strike at the Globalia group company had been called for the morning, afternoon, and night shifts (from 05:00 to 07:00, from 11:00 to 17:00, and from 22:00 until 00:00 hours) with the intention of maintaining it indefinitely.
Furthermore, UGT has agreed to also suspend the first two days of strike at Menzies, scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday, also coinciding with the increase in displacements due to Holy Week.
In the case of Menzies, it was called alone by UGT -majority union in the company- for March 28 and 29, and between April 2 and 6, for 24 hours.
The call in this 'handling' operator extended to the set of companies of the group (Menzies Aviation Ibérica and Menzies Ground Services) and to about 3,000 workers.
From the union they warned that, if an agreement was not reached with the company, the strikes would extend to all weekends until the end of the year.
Groundforce, the 'handling' operator of the Globalia group, obtained twelve licenses in the last award for Aena's ground assistance service, in September 2023: Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Malaga, Gran Canaria, Valencia, Ibiza, Bilbao, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and for air cargo in Zaragoza.
For its part, Menzies, from the Kuwaiti group Agility, was awarded in that tender the ramp and passenger services in Barcelona, Palma Mallorca, Malaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria, Tenerife South and Tenerife North.
