It Just Gets Worse - Part Two: Air-traffic controllers' strike

In early season it was the volcanic ash, now there is due to be more air chaos. Air-traffic controllers have voted (massively) to strike later this month. The date is likely to be 18 or 20 August. They haven't ruled out further strikes.

The controllers have got a real beef with the government. Rest periods and salaries have been cut, the latter - in practice - by up to 40%. There has been a sort of strike already, if one believes that taking a "sicky", which has been happening, constitutes a withdrawal of labour. Unlike their French colleagues who have been on strike and do so on a seemingly regular basis, the Spanish air-traffic controllers have historically not been militant. This will in fact be the first official strike they have ever called.

The hyperbole has of course gone into overdrive. It will be a disaster. But of course it won't be. What would be were if a lack of rest were to result in a mid-air collision. The controllers do have a point. Nevertheless, bang in the middle of high season is hardly convenient. It will cause considerable disruption, though quite how strong the strike will be is unclear. There are legal requirements as to maintaining "minimum services". The rail service, for example, is covered by these. But there are no precedents for air-traffic controllers. While the railways can help to ease the transport burden on the mainland, Mallorca and the islands have little by way of a fall-back position, as was exposed by the volcano; increased ferry services make little impression. One option, being floated by the government, would be to bring in the military, but the controllers argue that this would be unsafe as there would be a lack of expertise in handling the sheer volume of air traffic.

A wider question, set against the austerity measures that the Spanish Government has brought in and will add to next year, is whether others will follow the air-traffic controllers. A general strike of all sectors, not just public, is meant to be occurring at the end of September. Though Spain has not experienced the kind of unrest that Greece has, there was an alarming report in "The Observer" at the weekend in which the Greek security forces warned of a descent into violence, provoked by the country's own austerity measures.

The air-traffic controllers could just be a start.


QUIZ:
Yesterday - Deacon Blue, "Your Town", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7xlyH3YsI


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.