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Iberia baggage handlers in Spain vote to strike over Christmas
Hundreds of flights could be affected as more strikes are scheduled for key dates over the Christmas holidays
Baggage handlers working for Spanish airline Iberia and belonging to the trade unions UGT and CCOO have called for eight days of strikes on some of the main dates for flying over the Christmas holidays.
The strikes have been called in protest against Iberia’s rejection of the creation of an ‘autohandling’ service, which would mean a ground service that is provided by the company itself.
Union sources said this Wednesday December 13 that the strikes would take place on December 29, 30 and 31 and January 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7, coinciding with some of the main dates when passengers would be flying over New Year’s and the Día de los Reyes Magos, Spain’s second Christmas Day.
Iberia has stated they feel “enormous disappointment” at the “irresponsible” call to strike action “in the midst of negotiating a viable solution for handling”.
According to separate statements from UGT and CCOO, after different meetings with Iberia and IAG (the group to which the Spanish company belongs, together with British Airways, Vueling, Aer Lingus and Level), the holding company still does not accept the creation of an autohandling service to all the group’s airlines at the airports where it did not obtain a licence.
Last September 26, Spanish airport management company Aena announced the result of a contest for baggage handling and Iberia was left out of third-party services at some of the country’s main airports, including Barcelona El Prat, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Alicante Airport, Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, Ibiza and Bilbao, although they kept Madrid.
Iberia has taken legal action to request the annulment of that outcome and they say they have been working “intensely” with the unions to find a solution. They also pointed out that they have never done ‘autohandling’ in those airports in which it operates, but have always chosen to hire the services of third parties.
UGT baggage handlers also threatened strike action over the December long weekend, another important travel period, but they were called off at the last minute.
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