Iberia pilots to strike again

Iberia A340-600. By Rob Finlayson

Iberia (IB) pilots represented by the SEPLA union plan to take strike action Jan. 25, Jan. 27 and Jan. 30 to protest company plans to create a lower-cost carrier, Iberia Express, for its loss-making medium-haul network (ATW Daily News, Jan. 18). Pilots want management to abandon the plan.

The new strikes follow four one-day walk-outs Dec. 18, Dec. 29, Jan. 9 and Jan. 11 (ATW Daily News, Jan. 9).

IB canceled some 100 long- and medium-haul flights for Wednesday, 94 flights on Friday and 95 flights on Monday, an IB spokesperson confirmed to ATW. This represents about 34% of all scheduled flights, with the majority of the flights taking place. As with previous walk-outs, Vueling and Air Nostrum flights are not affected.

The carrier on Friday managed to secure an agreement with the two main unions representing ground staff. IB extended the job guarantee clause in its current collective bargaining agreement to Dec. 31, 2014 and vowed to extend it until the end of 2015 if a new collective bargaining agreement is approved by the end of 2014. “For that reason, it wouldn't be wise to call on the expected strike,” the UGT and CCOO unions said in a press release.

At this time it is unclear if other ground staff unions will follow suit, the IB spokesperson said, confirming the situation with cabin crew is also not yet resolved.

Ground staff had threatened an open-ended strike each Monday and Friday from Feb. 3 while cabin crew unions had agreed on work stoppages for Feb. 3, 6, 10 and 13.

Both ground staff and cabin crew accepted the creation of Iberia Express in their collective bargaining agreement signed in April 2010, which runs through the end of this year, but IB’s 16,000 ground staff fear the new carrier might affect their job security while cabin crew fear that salaries for new recruits will be reduced (ATW Daily News, Oct. 7, 2011).