Ryanair and Easyjet strikes: Spanish staff take industrial action today, raising airport disruption fears

The USO Union said Ryanair staff based in Spain were taking action in July after a dispute over working conditions, and the union, alongside labour organisation SITCPLA, has previously demanded improvements.

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They said last month said staff would have “no other option” but to strike if their demands were not met by Ryanair bosses.

The Ryanair strike is due to last until tomorrow and affect flights at 10 bases across Spain - Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza.

EasyJet’s cabin crew in Spain announced three 72-hour walkouts, which will all take place this month. The first of these is between July 1 and 3, followed by July 15 to 17 and finally July 29 to 31.

The strikes will involve 450 members of staff who are based in El Prat (Barcelona), Malaga and Palma de Mallorca, represented by the Spanish union USO.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are extremely disappointed with this action as we have made considerable progress towards a new collective labour agreement and so would like to continue a constructive dialogue with them.

“Should the industrial action go ahead there could be some disruption to our flying programme to and from Málaga, Palma and Barcelona during the strike period.

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“However, at this stage, easyJet plans to operate its full schedule and we would like to reassure customers that we will do everything possible to minimise any disruption.”

Ryanair has said: “Ryanair has negotiated collective agreements covering 90 per cent of our people across Europe. In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase.

“Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.

“In Spain, we are pleased to have reached a collective agreement with CCOO, Spain’s largest and most representative union, delivering improvements for Spanish-based cabin crew and reinforcing Ryanair’s commitment to the welfare of its cabin crew.

“These announcements by the much smaller USO and SITCPLA unions are a distraction from their own failures to deliver agreements after three years of negotiations and we believe that any strikes they call will not be supported by our Spanish crews.”

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