The Senate plenary session has given the green light, with the abstention of the PP, to the Draft Law on Air Controllers, an initiative that will allow the suppression of "the privileges that air controllers have been enjoying" since the PP government signed the 1st professional agreement signed between Aena and these professionals.
Marcos Hernández, socialist senator for Lanzarote, criticized the PP's position that "defends the privileges of controllers, while asking for the remuneration and rights of the most humble workers to be restricted and limited." The socialist senator recalled that it was the PP Government that, in the negotiation of the 1999 agreement, significantly reduced the ordinary working day of these workers, who "since then, have been working more than 600 hours of overtime, at a cost more than three times its value."
He also highlighted that, as a consequence of this situation, "each controller, on average, has been earning 334,000 euros per year, has worked an average of 18 hours a week, including breaks, and has had the possibility of retiring from the age of 52, with a remuneration of 170,000 euros per year."
Regarding the approved text, Marcos Hernández indicated that it respects collective bargaining and seeks "a point of balance between the right to it and the free movement of citizens." Thus, "in no case does it violate labor rights," as recognized by a recent ruling on March 15.
Likewise, the socialist senator stressed that the new regulations will reduce air navigation fees by 15 percent in the next two years, "which will lower the price of airline tickets paid by citizens and contribute to boosting the tourism sector and reactivating the economy, especially in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands."
"With this bill, added the senator, the general interest is defended and the organization and management of air traffic is equated to what is established by the European single sky directives, placing us at the forefront of Europe."