Flight cancellations are expected to affect all itineraries to and from Portugal from August 19 to 21 due to wide scale industrial action in the country.
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Thousands of travellers will have their trips interrupted as civil aviation workers from Portugal’s Civil Aviation Workers’ Union (SINTAC) and the Commercial Aviation Staff Union (SQAC) are expected to walk out during those three days. Those looking to strike for higher wages include ground handlers, cabin crew, security staff and fire services, among others. According to SchengenVisaInfo.com, a spokesperson for one of the unions said:
It would be wise to avoid flying. Only by doing this [the strike] can we achieve what the company has been missing for a long time: social stability, respect for the rights of workers and, fundamentally, for people.
Similar measures at Ryanair Spain
The news comes after a series of walk-outs have already heavily affected the travel sector in Europe. Ryanair staff in Spain took similar actions after demands for higher salaries were not met. The industrial action is said to potentially last until January of 2023 and workers are preparing to strike every week, from Monday to Thursday disrupting travellers looking to enjoy their summer holidays. Speaking to the ECHO, a Ryanair spokesperson explained:
Ryanair expects that these latest threatened strikes, which involve only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew, will have zero impact on our Spanish flights or schedules in August or September. This is because the vast majority of Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew are represented by the CCOO union who have already reached a labor agreement with Ryanair which covers most of our Spanish cabin crew.
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