The Workers’ Assembly at Eulen, the company that manages the security checks at Barcelona’s El Prat airport, will have an opportunity on Thursday to put an end to the conflict at the airport if it approves the proposal made by the Catalan government, which has already been accepted by the company’s management. The workers’ representatives have promised to put the proposal in front of the workers, yet without having given it their own full support.
However, the Secretary General of the Department of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the Catalan government, Josep Ginesta, stated that the government considers the mediation between the strike committee and Eulen’s management complete, and is confident that the staff will ratify the proposal presented by the government in the assembly convened for Thursday.
In statements to the media after the fourth mediation meeting, Ginesta pointed out that during Tuesday afternoon "improvements" had been made to the proposal presented at noon by the government in recognition of some of the workers’ requests, which is why there was optimism it would be ratified by the staff.
Aena also commits itself
It was explained that Aena, the public operator that runs the airport, had expressed its willingness to maintain in future tenders the working conditions and salary supplements that will be detailed in the resolution of the conflict, since Eulen's contract ends in the middle of next year.
Specifically, Aena - represented by the director of the Barcelona airport, Sonia Corrochano - has pledged that, in the event of new bidder, the working conditions in which the service is provided will be guaranteed and that the remuneration conditions will not be worse than those set in the mediation proposal.
It was explained that this issue cannot be put in the minutes of the conflict’s resolution, but that Aena will send a document with these commitments on Wednesday to the Department of Labour, so that the Catalan government can certify it in front of the strike committee and it can be presented to the assembly on Thursday.
Calling off the strikes
Ginesta pointed out that, if the proposal is ratified in the assembly, the conflict resolution document would be registered and the strikes called off, whilst the company would withdraw the demand against the strike committee for what it considers to be illegal and abusive stoppages, as well as the sanctions imposed upon the workers at the security control lanes.
“We are so optimistic that the proposal is good and interesting for all the parties, that we do not want to think that it will not be ratified by the assembly," said Ginesta, who added that if it is not approved by the staff, then mediation negotiations by the Catalan government would resume the same Thursday afternoon.
Details of the proposal
The proposal that the Department of Labour of the Catalan government presented to Eulen and its workers was to incorporate a salary supplement of €200 for all employees, a figure halfway between the €350 demanded by the strike committee and the €155 limit set by the company’s management, who did accept the mediation proposal in the end.
The proposed mediation pact also adds a fifth security guard per lane between March and October, for each of the 17 lanes currently available and the three work shifts.
The proposal also adds an additional 25 persons who would relieve the security workers whenever they have to leave their positions. The new incorporations would total 76, a figure that is also far from the figure of new staff demanded by the strike committee (100), as well as the initial figure proposed by Eulen (21).