Unions call off Ryanair strikes after reaching late-night deal with airline

The cabin crew from the low-cost airline had planned stoppages for January 10 and 13, but after more than 14 hours of talks the two sides have come to an agreement.

Strikes planned for January 10 and 13 by Spanish cabin crew for Ryanair have been called off, after unions and the low-cost airline reached a deal.

The agreement, which was signed between SITCPLA and USO labor unions and the Irish carrier after talks lasting more than 14 hours, will have to be ratified at meetings of cabin crew staff, and if approved, will set “the foundations” for the normalization of the labor relations between employees and the airline under the framework of Spanish law.

Until now, Ryanair cabin crew in Spain had been employed under Irish labor contracts. A series of strikes were held last year in a bid to get the company to sign new agreements that were drawn up under the local legislation of each employee.

The deal reached with Ryanair includes the commitment to immediately start negotiating the first collective agreement for cabin crew, something that, unions said, would have been “unthinkable” just a few months ago.

“The completion of the deal reached in the early hours of this morning is the result of a long 18 months of fighting and coordinated union actions, both on a national level and within the framework of the European Union,” the unions stated. “As a consequence of the signing of the deal we will immediately call off the strikes that we had planned for January 10 and 13, 2019.”

Over the next few days, the unions will hold a number of assemblies to explain how the deal will affect each worker.

For the unions, one of the main achievements of the deal is the guarantee of work stability as well as an improvement of labor conditions, together with the main demand of the cabin crew: the application of Spanish legislation.

“We are convinced that soon all Ryanair employees in Spain will be able to fully enjoy all of their rights as citizens of the European Union,” they concluded

Written by BayRadio