Passengers pictured queuing at Heathrow
(Picture: PA Wire)EasyJet cabin crew based in Spain are poised to strike for nine days in July due to a row over pay.
British holidaymakers could face more travel chaos as the Spanish union USO called 450 members of cabin crew for 24-hour strikes throughout peak holiday season in July.
Strike action is set to take place on July 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and 31 after EasyJet and USO have hit a “deadlock situation” over talks on cabin crew pay since February, the union said.
General secretary of USO in EasyJet Malaga Miguel Galán said: “The reason for the strike at EasyJet is none other than the deadlock situation in which the negotiation of the II Collective Agreement for the company’s crew is currently.
“The company has no interest in negotiating the improvement of the working conditions of the crew in Spain, so that we have the same working conditions as those who operate in other European bases such as France and Germany.
“Since February we have been negotiating with the company to equalize the working conditions of the tcp in Spain with those of other European bases, but it has not been possible. That is why we called this strike, so that the company presents an offer that recognizes the same working conditions for us.”
The airline said they were “extremely disappointed” over the strike action plans as they felt “considerable progress” was being made.
EasyJet told The Standard: “easyJet has been advised of strike action by its cabin crew based in Spain between 1-3, 15-17, and 29-31 Julyat its bases in Barcelona, Malaga, and Palma.
“We are extremely disappointed with this action as we have made considerable progress towards a new CLA and so would like to continue the constructive dialogue with them.
“Should the industrial action go ahead there could be some disruption to our flying programme to and from Malaga, Palma and Barcelona during the strike period but 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.”
It comes after easyJet on Monday apologised for the disruption caused to thousands of passengers hit by recent cancellations and delays as it announced it was cutting back flights over the summer.
The budget airline said it was “consolidating a number of flights across affected airports” including Gatwick following the airport’s announcement last week that it was reducing the number of daily flights during July and August to cope with staff shortages.
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “Delivering a safe and reliable operation for our customers in this challenging environment is EasyJet’s highest priority and we are sorry that for some customers we have not been able to deliver the service they have come to expect from us.
“Coupled with airport caps, we are taking pre-emptive actions to increase resilience over the balance of summer, including a range of further flight consolidations in the affected airports.
“We believe this is the right action for us to take so we can deliver for all of our customers over the peak summer period in this challenging environment.”
