Members of USCA, the air traffic controllers' union, voted last week to take strike action on 21st or 22nd of this month, a call to action that was supported by all 18 of the air traffic controllers in Menorca. Nationwide the motion was supported by 98.25% of the union members who voted.
The reason for the discontent in the sector is the deterioration in working conditions since the change in law in February this year. Although the workers on the island are not affected to such a degree as those in other airports, they are feeling the effects of the changes. Added to this is the uncertainty reigning over the possible privatisation of some control towers and the changes that this may involve.
The threat of action has already had an affect in Menorca, with some flights in the scond half of August having been cancelled, according to the President of ASHOME (the Menorcan Hoteliers' Association), Joan Melis, who lamented the fact that the strike would "add wood to the fire" coming at the height of the season.
Minimum Services
The Balearic Councillor for Tourism and Labour, Joana Barceló, called for the action to be dropped in the interests of tourism in the Balearic Islands. She insisted that, should the strike go ahead, then the minimum services laid down by AENA would have to be "maximum" in the case of the archipelago where there are not sufficient alternative means of transport to guarantee the public's right to move about. Barceló pointed out that a strike by air traffic controllers would hit the Balearic Islands far harder than other regions because of the dependence on air travel.
Breakdown in talks
Negotiations between the union USCA and AENA (the body which manages the airports) broke down last week, despite agreement having been reached on six of the union's twelve points. USCA accused AENA of dragging its heels in responding to the main demand which is for changes to the duty roster to allow workers sufficient time off to rest, claiming that they are currently working 28 days a month.
AENA's offer of an average wage of 200,000 euros until 2013 (on condition that the strike was called off) appears to have had little effect, the union stating that "the financial question is the least of our problems" and that their main concern was to establish a stable working pattern.
The union's refusal to call off the strike was given as AENA's reason for breaking off the talks on Friday.
The following day a spokesman for USCA stated that if talks had not been reconvened by yesterday, the the union's executive committee would meet today to call a strike which could be on 21st or 22nd, as ten days' notice must be given. USCA is calling on the Government and the Minister José Blanco to intervene so that talks can restart, an agreement can be reached between the parties and the threatened strike called off.