Iberia again calls on trade unions to negotiate rather than strike

Iberia has called meetings on Friday, 7th December, with trade union representatives of all its employee groups –ground staff, cabin crews, and pilots—and with the strike committee.

In calling the meeting, Iberia is appealing to the sense of responsibility of trade unions to agree to negotiate new contracts that contribute to the future viability of the company, and to negotiate the terms of the Transformation Plan, calling off the planned strike which will severely damage the interests of customers, the airline, and its employees.

Iberia CEO Rafael Sánchez-Lozano said: “We have the chance to negotiate and implement solutions that will solve Iberia’s problems, so that it may have a future. Striking is not the right response to a plan whose labour aspects are open to negotiations by the airline. In addition to the harm caused to our customers, the strikes further aggravate the airline’s situation and increase the risk of greater job losses, which is what we want to avoid, and should be able to avoid through negotiation.”

The airline held a meeting yesterday with the strike committee but failed to reach agreement on minimum services during the series of six day-long strikes planned for later this month. Iberia has now called on the government to issue a decree determining these services. Only then will the airline know which specific flights must be cancelled. It will then publish the list.

Yesterday Iberia launched the new “Iberia Conecta” service, to use email and SMS channels to inform its customers directly of any changes in the status of their flights. The launch date was moved forward because of the strike threat.