Ryanair claims cabin crew will not strike despite call from unions

Ryanair believes that its cabin crew in Spain will not take part in the six days of strike action called by the USO and Sitcpla unions for June 24-26 and June 30-July 2.

The two unions announced the strike on Monday and called on the Irish airline to sit down to negotiate "a collective agreement and decent working conditions for all staff."

Ryanair defended its record on Tuesday, saying in response that it has negotiated collective agreements that cover 90% of its employees across Europe, despite USO and Sitcpla's criticism that "Ryanair is the only international company in [Spain] without a collective agreement."

The low-cost carrier pointed to the fact that it has signed an agreement with the CCOO union on conditions and pay and says cabin crew will therefore not support the industrial action.

"The recent announcements by the much smaller USO and Sitcpla unions are a distraction from their own failures to reach agreements after three years of negotiations," Ryanair told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Airline sources gave assurances that following the successful negotiations with CCOO they do not expect any changes this summer related to a new collective agreement.

The USO and Sitcpla unions oppose the deal agreed by Ryanair and CCOO and say that the airline has sought to "cancel them" as unions after they refused to sign up to the "precarious conditions offered."

They also claim that many of conditions agreed with CCOO are actually based on court rulings won against the company, such as the salary increase of €1,000 in 2022 and €800 for 2023, as well as the fixed schedule of 5 days' work and three days' rest.

"In addition to negotiating an agreement without the unions representing staff, Ryanair is still not applying Spanish labor law," their statement concluded, detailing that cabin crew are still not entitled to bank holidays in lieu, they have problems requesting a reduction in working hours, they do not receive salaries in the legally required format, and they cannot drink water on planes.

Barcelona-Newcastle route

Meanwhile, as air travel continues to bounce back after the pandemic, Ryanair have announced a new route between Barcelona and Newcastle for winter 2022/23.

There will be two direct flights a week between the Catalan capital and the city in northeast England, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.