Los sindicatos plantan otra vez a Airbus a pocos días de la huelga

Negotiations between unions and Airbus have been put on hold just days before a planned strike, following the union's refusal to attend a meeting with the company. The CGT, UGT, and UTIL unions, who had called for a strike starting August 24, did not show up for a meeting with Airbus at the Inter-Confederal Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA) on August 21.

This is the second time this month the unions have skipped a scheduled meeting with Airbus, following their absence from a meeting on August 11. The unions are frustrated by a lack of a new proposal from Airbus that better addresses their demands. They intend to call a three-hour work stoppage at the Spanish factories the following Monday, and to hold assemblies to turn the movement into a full, indefinite strike starting August 25.

Airbus has since hired law firm Baker McKenzie to help negotiate a resolution and has appointed Soledad Muñoz as the new director of Human Resources, replacing Antonio Lasada who will take the same position in China. After protests in July led by the Independent Aerospace Professionals Union (SIPA) and a rejection of a pre-agreement from the company that included a 12% salary increase, Airbus decided to engage in professional mediation with SIMA to narrow the gap between the two sides.

Airbus expressed regret that the unions did not participate in the mediation meeting on Thursday, stating they are handling the situation with the intention of creating a stable framework for finding shared solutions and reaching solid agreements that address the current situation.