Ryanair cabin crew in Spain vote to hold two three-day strikes
Cabin crew working for Ryanair in Spain have voted to hold six days of strikes at the end of June and early July, potentially adding to the disruption affecting air travel across Europe.
The Spanish-based staff in the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from 24 June to 26 June and 30 June to 2 July.
Ryanair said it did not expect widespread disruption and claimed most crew would not support the planned action.
So far the airline, Europe’s biggest by passenger numbers, has escaped much of the turmoil affecting its rivals, particularly easyJet in the UK, and said it has not cancelled any flights because of its own staffing issues.
However, the Spanish unions now appear to be fixed on action, largely to pursue large increases to basic salaries after cuts during the coronavirus pandemic.
The general secretary of USO’s Ryanair section, Lidia Arasanz, said: “We have to resume mobilisation so that the reality of our situation is known and Ryanair is forced to abide by basic labour laws.”
The unions, speaking in Madrid, said they would look to coordinate action with other unions representing Ryanair staff in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal, according to Bloomberg.
Ryanair played down the prospect of any threat to its summer flying, with the airline expecting to operate more flights in its peak season schedule than it did in 2019.
A spokesperson said: “Ryanair has negotiated collective agreements covering 90% of our people across Europe. In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase. Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.”
Despite its assurances, Ryanair has been forced to cancel
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