Spain cancels its Easter airport strikes, bringing relief to holidaymakers

HOLIDAYMAKERS planning to visit Spain this week will be able to breathe a big sigh of relieve after the strikes that threatened service disruptions and frustrating delays in airports throughout Spain were cancelled.

Around 3,000 ground staff and baggage handlers from the Menzies group were set to launch industrial action on April 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to coincide with Semana Santa celebrations – one of the busiest weeks of the year with millions passing through Spain’s key travel hubs.

The walkout has been called off after the General Workers’ Union (UGT), led by leaders of the union, reached a deal with Menzies’ higher-ups in the last minute.

Workers are angry about poor working conditions.

A last-ditch deal was reached by the company on Tuesday, in which it agreed to new financial guarantees for transferred staff and settled differences regarding fixed and variable bonus amounts and annual working hours.

The Menzies group have also pledged to address the management of overtime and shift scheduling, which they say will be ‘reviewed and improved to ensure proper implementation, avoiding the constant errors that had been occurring in the company’s management of them’.

The company has also agreed to new negotiations regarding employment. In September 2023 the company won a tender for ground handling services from Aena at Barcelona El-Prat Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport, Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport, Alicante airport, Gran Canaria airport, Tenerife North, Tenerife South, and Alicante.

They said the move was necessary ‘given the precarious situation of staffing levels at different airports, where part-time contracts prevail despite a real need for full-time hiring’.

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Although the announcement is welcome, it does not end the disruption that millions of passengers are expected to experience.

This is because the climbdown doesn’t affect ongoing strike actions by Groundforce employees, who have been downing tools indefinitely due to a bitter wage dispute.

The company’s employees will walk out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until a deal is reached. This can only be done during certain hours: 5am-7am; 11am-5pm; and 10pm-12am.

Passengers are therefore warned to expect longer queues at check-in, delays to baggage loading and unloading, plus slower boarding – all of which increase the risk of frustrating knock-on delays.

Experts advise travellers to only fly with hand luggage if they can, since baggage carousels will be expected to take the brunt of walkouts.

Consumer rights advocates have warned that delayed or cancelled flights will not qualify for the standard compensation offered by the European Union.

Because the strikes are being carried out by airport ground staff rather than the airlines themselves, the disruption is legally classed as an ‘extraordinary circumstance’.

Groundforce strikes are affecting airports including Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona El-Prat as well as Palma de Mallorca (Alicante), Malaga-Costa del Sol(Gran Canaria), Valencia (Ibiza), Bilbao (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Zaragoza), Ibiza (Valencia), Bilbao-Bilbao, Lanzarote-Fuerteventura, Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Lanzarote

The staff has been instructed to provide a minimum level of service as required by law. However, travellers are still advised to check the status of their flights before arriving at the terminal.

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