The Iberia Strike Committee in Lanzarote released a press statement confirming that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, through the General Directorate of Labor, has authorized the airline to proceed with the employment regulation file for the termination of contracts of 28 permanent workers in the Canary Islands, of which 17 correspond to the work center on the Island.
Until 2007
León Fajardo, spokesperson for the strikers, said that Iberia now has until 2007 to make the dismissal of the workers effective. For now, the Committee, which maintains the suspension of the strikes, has its cards held, but will show them immediately if the company sends the employees away.
The Committee assures that the approval of the file constitutes a blatant fraud against the public administration. According to them, the dismissals mask the strategy of hiring temporary workers, with contracts in violation of the law, while permanent workers are dismissed. The workers reiterate that the arguments used by the company's management that there is surplus personnel are completely false. "They hide a strategy to proceed with the dismissal of 17 workers," says the press release.
Deficient services
The Committee says that proof that it is not lying is that this Sunday, despite there being no strike, passengers of charter companies such as Astraeus had to wait up to one hour and forty-five minutes for their luggage in the arrivals hall, as did those of other companies such as British Airways or Martinair. This Monday there were flights that waited up to 30 minutes to be attended to on the airport platform.
The Committee asks what will happen if the pre-retirements of 5 more are added to the 17 workers who could be dismissed on the spot. With what personnel will Iberia provide services to the companies they assist in Lanzarote? Or will the Ministry of Labor allow them to hire workers as they did in the previous subrogations to Eurohandling? These are some of the Committee's questions. In any case, the strikers maintain the consideration that in Lanzarote, due to its uniqueness, there is no surplus of personnel that justifies any employment regulation.
