Ryanair cabin staff strike cancels dozens of flights in Europe
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[June 24, 2022] By
Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira
LISBON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Some cabin crew
at Ryanair went on strike in Belgium, Spain and Portugal on Friday in a
dispute over pay and working conditions, the latest in a wave of
walkouts staged by workers across different sectors in Europe.
Surging inflation across the continent has led to millions of workers
struggling with rising costs of living, prompting trade unions to demand
higher wage increases, often backed by strike calls.
Airlines and airport operators have also struggled with staff shortages
to handle the flow of passengers as demand for travel bounces back with
the end of most COVID-19 restrictions. Workers at several other
airlines, including British Airways, are also planning strikes this
summer.
Ryanair cabin crew unions in Belgium, Spain and Portugal called a
three-day strike starting on Friday. Staff in France and Italy were
expected to walk out over the weekend. Crews in Spain are set to strike
again on June 30 and July 1-2.
Workers say the Irish airline does not respect local labour laws
covering issues such as the minimum wage and urge Ryanair's bosses to
improve working conditions.
"Conditions are terrible," said Ricardo Penarroias, president of SNPVAC,
the union behind Portugal's walkout. "A crew member is not even allowed
to take a bottle of water on a flight."
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Ryanair did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday,
but told Reuters last week it had negotiated labour agreements covering
90% of its staff across Europe and that it did not expect widespread
disruption this summer.
WAGE-PRICE SPIRAL
Much of the labour unrest has focused on the transport sector as it
deals with a return to travel after pandemic lockdowns.
French unions issued a joint call on Friday for a national railway
worker strike on July 6 and a walkout has also crippled Britain's rail
network this week.
There are signs of the unrest spreading to other sectors – French trade
union CGT is organising a one-day strike on Friday to seek higher wages
for oil refinery workers after talks with operator TotalEnergies broke
down.
With inflation running at more than 8% in the euro area, a 40-year-high
of 9.1% in Britain, and in double digits across some central and eastern
European economies, authorities are worried of a wage-price spiral
developing in which higher wage demands add to inflationary pressures.
European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde has warned that the longer
inflation remains high, the more likely it will influence wage
negotiations.
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![](../images/062422PIX/busine69.jpg)
Passengers are pictured in the Ryanair check-in area at the Adolfo
Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, on the first day the airline's
Spanish cabin crew goes on strike, in Madrid, Spain June 24, 2022.
REUTERS/Isabel Infantes REFILE - CORRECTING AIRLINE'S INFORMATION
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Pilot and cabin crew unions of Brussels Airlines, the Belgian subsidiary of
Lufthansa, also started a strike on Thursday. Over the three days, Brussels
Airlines expects to cancel about 60% of its 533 flights.
Belgium is likely to be the hardest hit by the Ryanair strike, with local media
saying 127 flights at Charleroi airport would be cancelled, affecting 21,000
passengers. Ten additional Ryanair flights per day are set to be cancelled at
Brussels airport.
Outside Charleroi, striking workers wore T-shirts with the message "Ryanair must
change" on the front and "Respect" on the back in yellow on blue, mirroring
Ryanair's colours.
In Lisbon, two flights were cancelled on Friday so far, both to Brussels. A
total of 18 Ryanair flights between Brussels and Spanish cities were cancelled
on Friday and Saturday, Spain's cabin staff union, USO, said.
In Spain, the government forced the company to operate 73%-82% of flights over
the strike period to maintain minimum services, obliging most to go to work.
Ernesto Iglesias, from USO, said the government's decision limited workers'
right to strike. Commenting on the situation in Spain, Ryanair's CEO Eddie
Wilson said workers there demanded a 165% salary increase.
The SNPVAC union said not many flights would be cancelled from Portuguese
airports because the airline placed strikers on stand-by and asked cabin crew in
other countries to replace them. Ryanair has said SNPVAC only represented 3% of
its staff in Portugal.
Outside Lisbon airport, American Michael Rossides, 59, said he booked an EasyJet
flight because he thought Ryanair would cancel but that ended up not happening.
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"We have wasted a fair amount of time, an extra couple of hours, and a few
hundred dollars," he said.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua and Miguel Pereira in Lisbon, Inti
Landaro, Corina Rodriguez and Christina Thykjaer in Madrid and Philip Blenkinsop
in Brussels; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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