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Iberia Airlines Sues
Pilot Unions Over What It Calls Illegal, Abusive Strikes By Bill Goldston |
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April 3, 2012 - Iberia Airlines, flag carrier airline of
Spain filed lawsuits against its pilots union, Sepla
Union and Stavla Union with the Chamber for Social and
Labor Matters, at the National High Court. The suit
refers to the set of strikes called by both unions in
December and the new set of strikes called by Sepla
during the next months.
Iberia filed the law suit against the Sepla pilots union
claiming the current intermittent strikes called by the
union against the airline in December, 36 strikes and
upcoming strikes set for April through July, 30 strikes
are illegal, and the air carrier is demanding damages,
currently estimated at more than 3 millions Euros per
day of strike.
It
is filing a similar suit against the Stavla, union
representing less than one-third of its cabin staff, for
the strikes called last March. The suits name both
unions and their shop stewards in Iberia. In its suit
against Sepla, the company gives two main reasons: |
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- The
strike is intended to obstruct a decision taken by the company
in the exercise of its legal prerogatives under Article 38 of
the Spanish Constitution, and which respects all agreements
signed by the company.
- It is an
abusive strike and the latest call for strikes - 24 days in the
past and 30 days now - during the peak travel period of Easter
Week, Labor Day and Saint Isidro weekend and summer holidays,
confirm this. Such strikes have a huge cost for the airline and
almost none for the striking pilots.
In its
suit against Stavla Iberia gives the same reasons for claiming
its strike is illegal and abusive, while also mentioning that:
- In the
latest collective bargaining agreement Iberia cabin staff
expressly acknowledged the operation of the Iberia Express unit
as an independent company.
- The
flight committee, on which Stavla is represented, unanimously
decided to shelve plans for a strike against Iberia in an
agreement signed by four of the five cabin staff unions, which
recognized that the concerns that had led to the strike plan had
all been satisfactorily addressed.
- It would
therefore be a strike not in defense of members' own interests,
but in solidarity with the Sepla pilots union. |