Thousands of workers at Airbus SE sites in Spain resumed strike action this week after unions rejected the company's latest package on pay and working conditions and turned down a concurrent mediation proposal, union officials said on Wednesday.
Unions reported that around 90% of eligible employees participated in the stoppage on Tuesday. They described the move as the beginning of an indefinite strike, coming after 22 days of industrial action in July.
French unions familiar with the dispute said the three Spanish unions involved in the strike represent about 40% of Airbus Spain's roughly 14,000-strong workforce. The exact number of workers on strike could not be independently verified.
The action was triggered after plant-level assemblies of workers voted to reject the pay and conditions proposal presented by the company during a mediation session on Friday. Unions said the company's proposal lacked binding timelines and concrete financial commitments, and that it deferred contentious items including holidays, flexible hours and transport arrangements. A fresh mediation meeting is due to take place on Thursday.
Alfonso Mora, head of the Airbus works council in Spain, said the company has frozen planned hiring in the country for the duration of the strike. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Representatives from unions UGT and CGT told media the stoppage has already begun to slow production on both military and commercial programmes, and warned it could complicate Airbus's efforts to meet its delivery target. Airbus is under pressure to achieve an annual delivery goal of 870 jets. The company stated last week that disruption to administrative and support functions had not yet affected production.
Workers involved in the dispute are seeking several specific changes from Airbus. Their demands include inflation-linked pay increases, the reinstatement of previous remote-working arrangements and improved sick-leave benefits. Airbus has already adjusted its remote-work policy following protests in July, allowing employees to work from home on average two days per week.
Airbus operates eight facilities in Spain that are involved in the manufacture of military transport aircraft and in producing components for commercial airliners and satellites. Union leaders say the breadth of the sites affected contributes to the strike's potential to disrupt both military and civil aerospace supply chains in Spain.
Next steps - With a new mediation meeting scheduled for Thursday, union leaders and company negotiators will have another opportunity to resolve outstanding issues. For now, unions have described the action as indefinite, while the company has imposed a hiring freeze in Spain for the strike's duration.