About 150 Danish tourists could not return to their country due to the surprise strike by Iberia workers

About 150 Danish tourists could not return to their country due to the surprise strike by Iberia workers

By C. S. G. Two operations had to be canceled this Friday at the Guacimeta airport, due to the surprise strike carried out from the early hours of the morning and ...

March 31 2006 (19:57 WEST)
About 150 Danish tourists were unable to return to their country due to the surprise strike by Iberia workers
About 150 Danish tourists were unable to return to their country due to the surprise strike by Iberia workers

By C. S. G.

Two operations had to be canceled this Friday at the Guacimeta airport, due to the surprise strike carried out from the early hours of the morning and throughout the shift by the Iberia ground handling workers.

Both canceled operations corresponded to the same plane, from the Sterling company, which was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon in Guacimeta, coming from Copenhagen, Denmark, and which that same afternoon was scheduled to return to that destination from Lanzarote, in both cases with almost 150 passengers on board. The Danish tourists who were on vacation on the island, after waiting several hours at the airport until they were informed of the definitive suspension of the flight, were accommodated again in island hotels. The flight was rescheduled for 10:00 a.m. this Saturday.

The Sterling flight 9411 plane was scheduled to arrive at the Lanzarote airport at approximately 1:30 p.m. this Friday, but due to a delay in Copenhagen for internal reasons of the company, it was not going to arrive in Guacimeta until 5:00 p.m. The shift of the Iberia "handling" staff - which provides services to that company - ends at 3:00 p.m., and as they were on a strike day, they do not work overtime, and therefore, there was not going to be anyone to provide the ground handling service.

Faced with this, Sterling suspended the flight, which caused discomfort to the hundred and a half passengers - almost all Danish - who were already in Guacimeta and could not return to their country this day.

This was the most important consequence of the surprise measure of force carried out this Friday, and which also produced "the usual, delays in the delivery of luggage, with up to an hour of waiting", according to the spokesperson for the Strike Committee, León Fajardo.

"We did the strike by surprise because if Iberia found out, they were going to bring people from Las Palmas, as they already did other times", explained Fajardo, who in turn highlighted that this is "just a small preview" of what is going to happen during Holy Week, when there will be more strike days, as the union members announced a month ago. "We expect that as always, Iberia will bring workers from abroad for Holy Week, due to the scarce personnel it has here, and the surprise strike this Tuesday was a way to start the conflict", pointed out León Fajardo.

The measure of force meant that only 75 of the minimum services indicated by law were provided, so out of a total of 36 employees, about ten did not work, according to the union member.

During this weekend there will be no more strikes, explained Fajardo, while clarifying that from within a week, specifically from Saturday, April 8 and until the Monday following Holy Week, "there will be more strike days, always in a surprise manner"

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