Warning! All Spanish airports staff may go on strike in August

If you are planning on travelling to Spain during the month of August, be careful! This week, the Spanish unions UGT, CCOO and USO announced that 60,000 baggage handlers and other airport staff will go on strike some days during the next month. The dates have not been revealed yet, but according to sources, the industrial action could start as early as the 29th of July.

The CCOO union has made a statement saying that this major strike comes about after two years of failed negotiations over employee salaries, working hours, overtime and professional growth. According to some sources, some workers have lost over 20% of their salaries (300 euros) a month, essentially living two years without a big part of their income until they won it back in court. In a failed attempt to avoid the strike, the labour mediation agency Interconfederal Service of Mediation and Arbitration (SIMA) has been asked to act as a peacemaker.

This action will not only affect all airports in Spain, but will spark chaos all over European airports. Unfortunately, you can expect delays and cancellations all over the continent.

Under the European Regulation EC 261/2004 you can claim compensation for delays and cancellations. However, if a strike is the original cause of your disruption, it is unlikely that you will be entitled to receive compensation as most of them, such as baggage handlers or air traffic control strikes, will be considered an extraordinary circumstance.

If you have been affected by a strike organised by an airline’s staff then you may very well be entitled to compensation. If you’ve experienced a flight cancellation or delay and you are doubting if you are eligible to claim compensation, check your flight with our free claim calculator to find out almost immediately. You can submit your claim with us afterwards, and we will take care of absolutely everything. Best of all, our 25% win fee will apply when we’ve claimed your compensation successfully.