Iberia cabin crew announce more strike days
Posted: 12 November 2009 0914 hrs

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MADRID: Unions representing Spainish airline Iberia's cabin crew announced on Wednesday that they would stage eight more days of strikes unless a pay agreement is reached.

The new strike calendar set by the two main unions representing Iberia cabin crew, CTA and SITCPLA, include November 30 to December 2 and from December 14 to 18, just before the start of the Christmas holiday season.

Iberia, which is in merger talks with British Airways, cancelled 368 flights on Wednesday, the second day of a two-day strike by attendants. The vast majority of the affected flights were domestic or to European destinations.

Cabin crews staged two days of strikes in October. They are seeking pay raises after a wage freeze instituted by the carrier in 2005.

Iberia has offered passengers a changed ticket or a refund.

Last month, the airline announced it will create a new carrier to handle short- and medium- haul routes as part of a restructuring plan to counter declining revenues amid the economic crisis and growing domestic competition from an expanding bullet train service.

It plans a hiring freeze, a company-wide wage freeze in 2010 and 2011, layoffs of all cabin attendants older than 55 and additional savings of up to 37 million euros (55.4 million dollars) a year in overhead costs in 2011 and 2012.

Iberia posted a net loss of 72.8 million euros (109 million dollars) in the second quarter.


- AFP/so