Passengers with trips booked to Portugal have been issued a warning ahead of widescale industrial action due to take place this month.
Tens of thousands of travellers could see plans descend into chaos as civil aviation workers from Portugal’s Civil Aviation Workers’ Union (SINTAC) and the Commercial Aviation Staff Union (SQAC) to walk out across three days. Ground handlers, cabin crew, security staff and fire services are among employees who could strike in airports across the country if their demands for higher wages aren’t met, unions have said.
In a summer that has already been marked by delays and disruption, the walk-out comes as another headache for those wanting to have a holiday abroad.
READ MORE: Check-in warning for Ryanair passengers or face £55 fee
The strike, as SINTAC threatened, will affect all workers in all 10 airports run by ANA airports authority, a concession of the French airports group VINCI. It comes after SINTAC rejected ANA’s current employment conditions – which include a 30% reduction in salaries, according to Portugal Resident.
Passengers, it said, "would be wise" to avoid flying into or out of Portugal between August 19-21. The walk-outs are the latest in a series of walkouts across the travel sector.
Ryanair staff in Spain began their latest strike on Monday (August 8), after two cabin crew unions, Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) and Sitcpla, called for a walk-out that could last until January 7, 2023. The industrial action will take place every week, from Monday to Thursday, and will last 24 hours, sources from USO told Euronews.
However, a Ryanair spokesperson told the ECHO the two unions only represent a handful of its Spanish crew. They continued: "Ryanair expects that these latest threatened strikes, which involve only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew, will have zero impact on our Spanish flights or schedules in August or September.
"The vast majority of Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew are represented by the CCOO union who have already reached a labour agreement with Ryanair which covers most of our Spanish cabin crew.”
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