easyJet staff protest at Palma airport | Photo: Tomás Montes

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The USO union announced on Wednesday that the strike called for easyJet cabin crew this week which ends tomorrow, Friday, is being supported by 85% of the workforce and warned that it does not rule out calling an indefinite strike from next August if easyJet ‘does not demonstrate a real willingness to negotiate’.

On this first day of the three days of strike action, easyJet cancelled some 60 flights on Wednesday with further disruption expected today and tomorrow. The strike called for 25, 26 and 27 June is to demand equal pay with other company employees in Europe.

The second day of the strike by cabin crew at easyJet has resulted in 62 flights being cancelled at Palma, Barcelona, Malaga and Alicante airports, according to the first update provided at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.

Departures and arrivals from Palma airport are the most affected by the protest called by the Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) union, with 26 cancellations to and from Geneva, Zurich, Berlin, London, Gatwick, Lyon, Milan-Malpensa, Athens, Porto, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Naples, Basel and Prague.

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There are 18 flights that will not depart from or arrive at Barcelona-El Prat, corresponding to connections with Basel, Geneva, London, Berlin, Bristol, Lisbon and Nice. As on the previous day, 10 flights from Malaga airport (Geneva, Basel, London and Bristol) and 8 from Alicante airport (Athens, Basel, Nantes and Nice) are also affected.

‘Spanish easyJet cabin crew earn the lowest wages in Europe. While our basic salary is £14,067 per year, our European colleagues earn between 29% more, in the case of Portugal, and more than 200% more, in the case of Switzerland,’ said Pier Luigi Copello, general secretary of USO at easyJet.

‘We deeply regret the inconvenience this strike may cause to passengers,’ continued Copello, who stressed that they too are ‘victims of a company that does not respect its workers.’

For this strike, the Ministry of Transport has set minimum services ranging from 81% to 90%. Specifically, the minimum services decree assigns minimum services of 86% in Barcelona, 90% in Malaga, 88% in Alicante and 81% in Palma.