The union representing Spanish-based pilots of low-cost airline easyJet said today its members will go on strike for nine days in August to demand better working conditions.
The SEPLA union is demanding that the airline reestablish pilots' working conditions from before the COVID-19 pandemic and provide its pilots with a new multi-year contract deal.
EasyJet's spokespeople didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The strike in three periods of 72 hours each, which will take place on 12, 13 and 14 August, 19, 20 and 21 of the same month, as well as 27, 28 and 29 “due to the refusal of the company to recover the working conditions that pilots had before the pandemic, as well as to negotiate the second collective agreement”.
The pilots claim that “this is the last possible resort, as all attempts by the pilots’ representatives to reach an agreement have failed”. The pilots claim that at the mediation meeting, held between the two sides on 22 July, the company did not present any improvement to its proposal.
The pilots’ representatives have called the strikes after more than six months of negotiations and up to six meetings in which three social proposals have been presented, which, according to them, have been rejected by the company.
The unions claim that “the goodwill” of the Sepla union section has been more than evident in the process, as it was during the worst months of the pandemic “when easyJet resorted to the threat of possible job losses to demand a series of job resignations from the pilots’ collective”.
The “only aim” of the Sepla union section in easyJet is to recover the working conditions that pilots had in 2019, now that the number of flights is very similar to what it was two years ago, as well as to resume negotiations for the signing of the new agreement.