Military in charge of air controllers
Source: Agencies |
December 5, 2010, Sunday
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SPAIN placed striking air traffic controllers under military authority yesterday in an unprecedented emergency order and threatened jail terms for those who refuse to go back to work in a bid to get
the country's air space back to normal.
Civil aviation agency Aena said hours later that some strikers were back on the job. The wildcat stoppage that began on Friday has largely closed the country's air space and stranded hundreds of
thousands of travelers on a busy holiday weekend.
Aena's Twitter feed said Madrid's Barajas airport could be operating at 30 percent capacity by 4pm yesterday.
In announcing the approval of a "state of alarm" after an emergency Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba accused air traffic controllers of "blackmailing all of our citizens." He apologized to irate travelers who spent Friday night sleeping at airports on what was supposed to be the start of a holiday weekend.
The order placing the air traffic controllers under military authority went into effect about an hour after he spoke. A few hours later, Aena said 11 of 15 controllers stationed at Barcelona's airport have returned to work and an unspecified number are also back on duty at the air control center that oversees Madrid's Barajas. The official also said one flight has left the Canary Islands for Luxembourg.
Long weekend
But it was far from clear when Spain's airports would be fully back to normal.
The case is reminiscent of a wildcat air traffic controllers strike in 1981 in the US, although the Spanish government has stopped short of simply firing controllers and breaking their union as President Ronald Reagan did at the time.
This is usually one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in Spain because tomorrow and Wednesday of next week are holidays, and many people plan to take Tuesday off as well.
The air traffic controllers launched their strike in the culmination of a long-running dispute with the government over working conditions, work schedules and benefits.
Spanish air traffic controllers get triple time pay for overtime hours, for instance, and made much of their salary from this, earning an average yearly salary of 350,000 euros (US$463,600).
But in February the government slashed allowed overtime hours drastically, infuriating the controllers who saw their pay nearly cut in half. The average yearly salary in Spain is about 20,000 euros.
The final straw seems to have been a decree approved by the Cabinet on Friday under which controllers who miss work shifts because of illness must make up lost hours and can be subject to immediate medical checkups if they call in sick.
the country's air space back to normal.
Civil aviation agency Aena said hours later that some strikers were back on the job. The wildcat stoppage that began on Friday has largely closed the country's air space and stranded hundreds of
thousands of travelers on a busy holiday weekend.
Aena's Twitter feed said Madrid's Barajas airport could be operating at 30 percent capacity by 4pm yesterday.
In announcing the approval of a "state of alarm" after an emergency Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba accused air traffic controllers of "blackmailing all of our citizens." He apologized to irate travelers who spent Friday night sleeping at airports on what was supposed to be the start of a holiday weekend.
The order placing the air traffic controllers under military authority went into effect about an hour after he spoke. A few hours later, Aena said 11 of 15 controllers stationed at Barcelona's airport have returned to work and an unspecified number are also back on duty at the air control center that oversees Madrid's Barajas. The official also said one flight has left the Canary Islands for Luxembourg.
Long weekend
But it was far from clear when Spain's airports would be fully back to normal.
The case is reminiscent of a wildcat air traffic controllers strike in 1981 in the US, although the Spanish government has stopped short of simply firing controllers and breaking their union as President Ronald Reagan did at the time.
This is usually one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in Spain because tomorrow and Wednesday of next week are holidays, and many people plan to take Tuesday off as well.
The air traffic controllers launched their strike in the culmination of a long-running dispute with the government over working conditions, work schedules and benefits.
Spanish air traffic controllers get triple time pay for overtime hours, for instance, and made much of their salary from this, earning an average yearly salary of 350,000 euros (US$463,600).
But in February the government slashed allowed overtime hours drastically, infuriating the controllers who saw their pay nearly cut in half. The average yearly salary in Spain is about 20,000 euros.
The final straw seems to have been a decree approved by the Cabinet on Friday under which controllers who miss work shifts because of illness must make up lost hours and can be subject to immediate medical checkups if they call in sick.
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