The striking workers from Eulen, the security contractor at Barcelona airport, have convened, after a 6pm meeting today, Friday, a new assembly on Sunday at 11am. This is to give them a chance to vote on the proposal which came out of the mediation led by the Catalan government and approved by the management of Eulen, based on a salary bonus of 200 euros for 12 months.
This new assembly will determine the future of the strike, because if the Catalan government's proposal is accepted by the workers, it will put an end to the dispute and the indefinite strike planned for next Monday will not take place. Otherwise it will cause even greater and more difficult queues for travellers who have already suffered a week of delays and even missed flights during the trouble.
In this way, the committee accepts the government's requirement of a new assembly by the workers to carry out a new vote, this time limited to a 'yes' or 'no' to the mediation proposal of the Labour department.
More Civil Guards
The call for the new assembly comes shortly after the announcement by the Spanish state that it will increase the presence of Civil Guards at the security checks in Barcelona-El Prat airport. The announcement was made by the minister of Public Works and Transport, Íñigo de la Serna, who chaired a crisis meeting this Friday between AENA, the public operator of the airport, the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Guard and the State Legal Service, to deal with the situation they will be facing from 14th August, when the indefinite strike is planned to start.
With the objective of "preserving public order and guaranteeing security", the State has started preparations to increase the presence of the Civil Guards at the security gates. They will not substitute, for the time being, Eulen's workers, but, since many of those will be on strike, "they will bring guarantees of respect for citizens' security".
For their part, the Catalan government this Friday put their Mossos d'Esquadra police force at Spain's disposal to help with security checks, an offer that de la Serna declined during a meeting held between representatives of the Spanish and Catalan governments. This rejection of the presence of Mossos was justified as being outside the responsibilities of the Catalans.