«No coaches at Palma airport...»

The unions have ruled out minimum services in the coach sector on June 20, the day of the general strike, sentencing thousands of tourists to travel misery. Yesterday, the two major unions, UGT (General Workers Union) and CC.OO (Workers Commissions) gave the government a proposal of minimum services for other sectors, but said that the coach service “is not a fundamental right, and there is no possibility of an agreement.” One spokesman said “not a single coach at the airport,” adding “if we have to guarantee the right to strike, we cannot accept that the constitutional rights of 100 workers should be infringed by the arrival of passengers at the airport.” The strike is over government changes to unemployment benefits and the unions accused the management of worrying less about what is going to happen to workers and the Balearic economy than about how many tourists are due to arrive and when they will be taken to their hotels. Management has called for a minimum service of 30 per cent in the coach sector. An estimated 46'000 passengers and 425 flights are scheduled to use the airport on June 20 and the situation is likely to be aggravated by the proposed strike by French air traffic controllers on June 19. Hospital, medical and emergency services will be staffed as though it were a holiday. The government is due to hold further talks with management and unions today and the final rota of minimum services will be announced on Friday.