Airbus and unions reach an agreement in principle to end the indefinite strike

The management of Airbus and the unions ATP, CCOO, SIPA and UGT, which make up 88% of the company's union representatives, have reached an agreement in principle this Friday to unblock the labor dispute that led to an indefinite strike, in force since August 24. The two parties have reached the necessary consensus to submit the proposal to a binding referendum among the company's workers in Spain in September. Two of the three unions calling for the strike, CGT and ÚTIL, have not participated in the negotiations.

The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, in an emergency meeting that was mediated by the minister of the sector, Jordi Hereu, who described the pre-agreement as “magnificent”. As reported by Airbus, the proposed understanding defines “a balanced solution to the conflict,” and “incorporates final improvements and specific clarifications.”

This week, the Spanish Executive already mentioned the possibility of intervening directly in the labor dispute to facilitate an agreement between management and the unions. On Tuesday, the Secretary of State for Industry, Jordi García Brustenga, warned that the indefinite strike puts the growth opportunities of the aerospace sector in the country at risk, which is why he advanced the possible involvement of Hereu.

The meeting came at the end of a week in which Airbus Spain had been left without the truce it had requested and, subsequently, closed the two negotiating tables that it kept open with the convening and non-convening unions.

On Monday, 81% of the company's workers who voted, organized around the CGT, UGT and ÚTIL unions, demonstrated against temporarily suspending the indefinite strike. The interruption was one of the requirements that the company set to continue with the negotiation. Around a thousand of the company's 15,000 employees in Spain participated in that count.

The conflict broke out in July after protests by workers to recover the salary level lost since the pandemic, estimated at more than 11%, and due to the need to shield teleworking to 40% of the working day. Since then, two strikes have already been called: the current one started on August 24.

The company's activity in the country is distributed among the plants in Getafe (9,000), Illescas (Toledo), Albacete, Cádiz and the Sevillian centers of Tablada and San Pablo. In Monday's vote, the centers of Albacete and Cádiz did not vote, but stated that they would join the majority result. The one from Illescas already voted on August 28 to pause the mobilization.