Despite reports in the UK media, Ryanair told the Majorca Daily Bulletin today that it expects that the strike called by the UGT union for handling company, Azul, in Spain starting on 15 August will have no impact on its operations. In a statement the airline said “This (media reports) is not correct, we have not cancelled flights due to these third party handling strikes in Spain. Our statement still stands; Ryanair does not expect any disruption to our operation as a result of these third-party handling strikes in Spain.”
The Irish low-cost airline has assured that it ‘does not anticipate any disruption to its operations as a result of the ground handling staff strikes’ in Spain. UGT has called a strike at Azul Handling from 15 August until the end of the year as a result of the ‘constant breaches of labour rights’ with which the Ryanair group ‘punishes its staff’.
In a statement, the Air Sector section of FeSMC-UGT has indicated that the strike will begin on 15 August at all the company’s bases and work centres in Spain between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and between 9 p.m. and 11.59 p.m.
The strike is called for the first three days (15, 16 and 17 August) and, from then on, for every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 31 December 2025. The union criticises the company for not creating stable jobs and not consolidating working hours for permanent part-time staff. It also highlights the ‘imposition and coercion’ to work additional hours, both ordinary and voluntary, applying ‘disproportionate penalties in some cases’.
They also consider that the company repeatedly fails to comply with the rulings of the Joint Committee of the Sectoral Agreement on guarantees and bonuses and that it also imposes illegal restrictions on reinstatement after medical discharge and on the adaptation of working hours to exercise the right to work-life balance.