Air traffic controllers consider calling for strike in summer

will be on A meeting at the end of the month where workers of the five Enaire control centers (Palma, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville and Gran Canaria) will be represented Barcelona, When analyzing whether to finally go on strike, sources from the majority union, the Air Controllers Association (USCA), stated yesterday.

USCA’s national spokesperson, Susana Romero, confirmed in the Barcelona assembly that they will once again discuss the same issues that the controllers have been grappling with for ten years and are therefore considering going on strike.

In addition to facing collective bargaining, staff shortages are heating up after two years of reduced traffic due to the pandemic.

In case of control center Majorca and the tower where the numbers don’t add up, According to data from air navigation director Enaire, the records before the health crisis are almost 10% according to April data, coinciding with Easter, with fewer employees than in 2019, according to the development of traffic. It was the largest increase in the country. And in the first quarter, operations have already grown 0.5%, which makes us imagine what the summer of 2022 will be like on the island.

There are 53 controllers in the control tower responsible for takeoffs and landings in Son Sant Joan, There were 55 three years ago. at the control center (manages aircraft flights and approaches) Changed from 131 to 131 126 workersyes In total this means 7 fewer controllers at the third airport with the highest traffic on the Aena network, with commercial traffic increasing with each high season and private jets increasing even more as a result of the pandemic.

According to Enaire, there will be more controllers in Mallorca this summer than in 2019, eleven in particular. However, the USCA does not collect figures. They claim there are four people in training to replace the four who retire, in addition to the increasingly aging staff. they condemn it a psychosocial study What Chiron did on behalf of Enaire in the five centersrevealed the critical condition of this group due to wear. professionals they encounter because of their incompetent staff. The publicly traded company did nothing to fix the problem, beyond courses with “type” techniques. awareness“.

In December 2010, the controllers staged a strike that led to a long legal battle. They were accused of quitting their jobs and the first state of alert was declared in Spain. Finally, Justice decided that such was not the case and the closure of the airspace could not be attributed to them.