T E N E R I F E ’ S O N LY Issue 665
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W E E K LY N E W S PA P E R
13 August 2010 - 19 August 2010
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It’s plane sailing! Relief for Tenerife tourism as air controllers call off planned strike TENERIFE’S battered tourist industry breathed a collective sigh of relief this week when Spanish airport staff called off their planned strike - at least until next month. The air traffic controllers, set for a three-day shutdown on 18th August, were instructed by their union on Tuesday to carry on working. The anouncement followed top-level discussions in Madrid, and requests from the tourists sector and the airlines, with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pressing the union to make up its mind. Earlier in the month, the Union of Air Traffic Controllers (USCA) had voted overwhelmingly to down tools over government changes to their working conditions. The union then broke off negotiations with AENA, the state-run airport management authority. But César Cabo, USCA head of communications, said the no-strike decision was “a demonstration of responsibility” by the controllers. Zapatero, who presided over Tuesday’s meeting between AENA and union officials, called on the controllers to make a decision “as soon as possible”. He said the proposed action had already caused “uncertainty” and “negative effects”. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also urged AENA and the controllers to take “all measures possible” not to damage the country’s key tourist industry. Following the three-hour meeting, the controllers’ union agreed to postpone any
action until September, paying regard to the importance of the tourist industry in mainland Spain and the Canaries. A strike next week would have affected thousands of tourists - especially Britons travelling to and from Tenerife, and would also have left many stranded on the Island. It would have been the third major disruption to the South and North airports this year, following the disastrous Icelandic ash-cloud controversy in March, followed by freezing conditions which shut down major airports
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throughout the UK. The airport union’s decision has been welcomed by the tourist sector, and talks with AENA resumed on Wednesday in the hope of bringing the dispute to a satisfactory conclusion. The airports’ management authority has already offered a fixed salary of not less than 200,000 euros a year - one of the highest in Europe - and a set pattern of shifts with compulsory overtime, which would bump up salaries enormously. It has also proposed half-hour breaks for every two hours worked. In addition, the Air Transport Association has
pressed air-traffic controllers to accept the offer in order to “resolve their differences” with AENA. The government had
already put in place plans to ease at least some of the intended disruption by using military air controllers. Thankfully, for the tourist
industry as a whole here on the Island, that move won’t be necessary. At least for now. Continued on page 4.