The threat of strikes disrupting Easter holiday flights to and from Spain appears to be over after airport authority AENA and Spanish unions agreed a preliminary deal. AENA has made certain guarantees and promised to meet one of the union demands by making a group of temporary workers permanent.
This week the unions will explain to the AENA workers the details of the pre-agreement that was signed by AENA management and the government. This Thursday (the 24th) the workers will vote on whether to accept or reject the offer. Should the workers agree to accept, the 22 days of planned strikes will be officially called off.
If the proposed strike does go ahead, travellers could face severe disruption as the Spanish airport workers threatened to strike over privatisation of the sector, calling out all 12,500 members for 22 days starting from April 20. Dates for the forthcoming strike were published in advance to try and avoid as much disruption as possible to travellers.
Some people stated they would have been unable to work around the strike dates due to having to arrange their holidays abroad sometimes a year in advance. For your information the following shows the proposed Tenerife airport strike dates: April 20, 21, 24, 25 and 30, May 2, 14, 15, 19 and 20, June 13, 23 and 30, July 1, 2, 3, 4, 15 and 31, August 1, 15 and 31,
Although AENA says baggage handlers and air traffic controllers will not be affected, Ryanair has demanded EU action to prevent a repeat of last year's chaos.
A spokeswoman for the low-cost airline BmiBaby – which flies to Spain from East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester airports – said: "We urge the parties involved to resolve this dispute as a matter of urgency so that any disruption to our customers can be avoided." …a spokesman for Abta pointed out that the Spanish industrial action was "only a proposed strike", adding: "Chances are it won't go ahead."
If the Spanish strike goes ahead, this could unfortunately coincide with a proposed strike by British Airways as cabin crew will this week start voting in their fourth strike poll in 16 months as BA's worst ever industrial dispute rumbles on.
The Unite union is polling more than 10,000 crew over a general breakdown in industrial relations, including sanctions against staff who took part in 22 days of strikes last year. The ballot opens on Tuesday and follows a poll scapped this month when BA successfully raised a series of legal objections.
Unite is braced for more legal wrangles when the poll closes in a month's time, amid expectations of another strike mandate. In the previous poll more than 5,700 staff voted for walkouts, a majority of 78.5% of those who voted. A yes vote would raise the threat of walkouts over the royal wedding weekend (29 April) but Unite's general secretary, Len McCluskey, is thought to be against action at that particular time.
This all sounds very frustrating…especially if you have already booked your holiday and are as of yet unsure that you will actually get to your destination. The long and the short of it is, travellers cannot always choose when they fly, or when they can book holidays, whilst most families have to work around the school holidays.
It is unclear right now if these strikes will go ahead, or if any disruptions to travellers will take place, so don’t put off booking your holidays to Tenerife… Travellers who have purchased travel insurance are being advised to check the terms and conditions of their policy in order to understand properly what they are and aren’t covered for. And obviously, for your own peace of mind it is ALWAYS good to have travel insurance…sometimes cutting this corner isn’t always beneficial in the long run and it would at least give you some peace of mind!
Update: After a 17 Hour meeting with AENA and unions leaders, the president of the Spanish Government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, today (Wednesday 23rd march) reached an agreement between AENA and the unions in which they now guarantee total normal running of the Spanish airports and circulation of the passengers during the 22 days that the strike was anticipated, including Easter.
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