The industrial action by Air Traffic Controllers in privatised control towers across Spain, including Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernandez Airport, which started in January 2023, has come to an end thanks to arbitration.
The dispute with the business association Apcta, which includes suppliers Saerco and Skyway, had been ongoing since 2023 when the Union of Air Traffic Controllers (USCA) broke off negotiations with the employers after the obstacles, according to them, of the company Saerco. Since then, there have been several strikes.
In May, when the conflict was entrenched, both parties turned to the Inter-County Mediation and Arbitration Service (SIMA), which ended up resolving the labour dispute between controllers and Apcta.
USCA explained in a statement that an arbitration award issued by SIMA has allowed the conflict to be ended, although not all of the workers’ demands have been met. Nevertheless, the statement includes thanks to the arbitration work for “understanding the difficult situation” of the controllers of these towers.
In addition to the Alicante-Elche tower, the other airfields affected by this conflict are those in A Coruña, Castellón, Cuatro Vientos, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Jerez, Lanzarote, La Palma, Lleida, Murcia, Sabadell, Seville, Valencia and Vigo.
