The airline Ryanair does not anticipate any interruptions to its operations during the summer months as a result of the nationwide strike called by its handling subsidiary, Azul Handling, due to the established minimum services.
“Due to Spanish legislation on minimum services during the summer months, we do not foresee any disruption to our operations as a result of these strikes,” the airline stated in a communication sent to EFE.
It has been noted that the strike has been called by UGT (the second union of Azul) and represents 20% of the workforce.
The airports affected by the nationwide strike include Madrid, Málaga, Alicante, Almería, Oviedo, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Girona, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Menorca, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Santander, Santiago, Sevilla, Tenerife North and South, Valencia, Vigo, Vitoria, and Zaragoza.
On the other hand, UGT has accused the company in a press release of undermining employees’ right to strike, as they have considered all Ryanair flights during the strike periods as “protected.”
This means that the minimum service staff working during these hours must attend to all flights, unlike unprotected flights, which would only be attended to by staff not participating in the strike.
They have criticised the company for categorising all flights as protected, something they can do due to the percentage of minimum services set for those time slots.
Furthermore, the union has accused the company of delivering the letter regarding minimum services “late and poorly” to employees, “with only 2 or 3 hours’ notice before the start of shifts,” and of making changes to schedules to enhance operations during the strike periods.
They have also accused the company of failing to provide the strike committee with the list of staff assigned to cover minimum services and of denying access to facilities for members of the strike committee.
The strike called at Ryanair’s handling subsidiary began this Friday, right in the middle of the August bank holiday, “without major incidents” apart from some delays.
So far, no specific incidents have been reported, except for those at Barcelona airport, where delays of “an average of 20 minutes” have been recorded, according to Chema Pérez, secretary of the aviation sector of the union, who informed EFE on Friday.
