More misery on the cards

The right to strike is a fundamental right as far as trade unions are concerned. However, as many groups of workers have discovered, striking can be counter productive when it it looses your cause public support.  This phenomena is most evident in the travel sector where the ensuing chaos caused by strikes creates untold misery for passengers.

Airline strikes affect not only the carriers, they affect the whole tourist industry and in a country like Spain which is heavily dependant on tourism, that is bad news.

Now we read that a dispute involving Aena, the state-owned firm that runs the country's key airports, could mean a total of 22 days of stoppages beginning on the 20th April this year. The workers have earmarked dates in May, June, July and August for further industrial action involving airport runway staff. The planned stoppages are being held to protest against the government's plans to sell off parts of the company.

Although Aena says baggage handlers and air traffic controllers will not be affected, budget airline Ryanair has demanded EU action to prevent a repeat of the misery that blighted flights across Europe last year.