In the light of the crisis in the aviation industry following the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001, the Spanish airline Iberia has introduced a redundancy procedure - approved by the labour authorities in December - which affects over 2,500 workers at all levels.
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In the light of the crisis in the aviation industry following the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001, the Spanish airline Iberia has introduced a redundancy procedure - approved by the labour authorities in December - which affects over 2,500 workers at all levels.
On 26 December 2001, the Directorate-General of Employment (Dirección General de Trabajo) approved the redundancy procedure presented by Iberia, the Spanish airline on 17 December (ES0112243F). This redundancy procedure affects 2,515 workers ( 8.6% of the workforce) at various levels - 207 pilots, 520 cabin crew, 13 co-pilots and 1,775 ground workers. The 'social plan' accompanying the procedure provides, for all workers concerned, options such as: pre-retirement; voluntary redundancy; relocation for a fixed period; geographic transfer; functional mobility; modification of working conditions; and cuts in working hours and pay with the guarantee of returning to full-time employment.
The approved redundancy procedure reflects the measures for adjusting employment levels proposed by the company for all workers except pilots. For the latter, the approved procedure establishes that terminations of contract are voluntary rather than compulsory (as the company had desired). Another company proposal that was not approved in the redundancy procedure was the suspension of contracts requested by Iberia for the pilots (for two months a year). The Directorate-General of Employment determined that the company had not provided organisational reasons to justify this proposal.
The Spanish Airlines Pilots' Trade Union (Sindicato Español de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas, SEPLA) is satisfied with the resolution of these points in the redundancy procedure. It also stressed that all the procedure's measure must be voluntary.
The job losses at Iberia are justified by management on the grounds of the fall in demand for its services following the terrorist attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001. The company has introduced other measures to address the crisis, such as reducing the number of flights, setting up a savings plan and putting off the delivery of new planes.
Eurofound recomienda citar esta publicación de la siguiente manera.
Eurofound (2002), Iberia redundancies approved, article.
