TW
0

Palma.— And yesterday, the situation grew even more complicated with unions warning that Iberia staff could go on strike in the run up to Christmas in a bid to try and protect their jobs.

A union representative said industrial action was being considered during the December holiday season, in protest against the extensive job cuts. “All of the unions are in intense talks to fix dates for action against the plan to dismantle Iberia,” a spokesman for Spain's second-biggest union UGT said. “We're not willing to accept sacrifices that only lead to breaking Iberia apart. We want to negotiate a viability plan that contemplates growth at Iberia and not just shutting down routes.” He added that strikes could take place between December 14 and December 21.
Iberia is part of International Airlines Group, which also owns British Airways which, as the Bulletin reported yesterday, is looking to take 100 percent control of Vueling in order to scrap Iberia's ailing low cost outfit Iberia Express.

Yesterday, The Vice-president of the Balearics and Minister for Finance, Josep Ignasi Aguilo, said the government is “closely watching” the redundancy negotiations currently underway within Iberia.

With 1'000 jobs at stake here in the Balearics and thousands more across the country, some opposition MPs claim that this could be the biggest wave of redundancies in Spain.

There are fears not only for the future of 1'000 employees and their families here in the region but also the impact the cuts will have on Iberia's inter island services and flights to the mainland - especially over the winter when frequencies are reduced anyway.