ENAIRE and the majority unions USCA and OCCA have reached an agreement on the Third Collective Agreement that will govern the working conditions of controllers for the next five years, extendable for another five. The agreement, which affects a group of 2,100 professionals, is the third in 24 years, and the first since 2011. Since that year, the labor relations of the controllers of the public company have been fixed by an arbitration award after the conflict they maintained with the Government then chaired by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and that led to the closure of the airspace and the declaration of the state of alarm in 2010. Since then, the relationship between the public company and the unions has been punctuated by the judicialization of issues such as dismissals, schedules or working conditions.
The agreement signed on Wednesday maintains the current salary conditions, signed in 2018, but "simplifies and rationalizes" the supplements and overtime pay currently charged by controllers based on variables such as seniority in office. In this way, it is estimated that the total wage bill will be maintained now but will be reduced in 2027 by 12% compared to 2019, taking into account the retirement of older workers (those who earn the most) and the expected increase in the workforce, according to sources familiar with the agreement. It will also improve the efficiency of services by gradually reducing the unit cost per controller while maintaining the working day at 1,615 hours.
The agreement also clears the threat of strike for this summer and guarantees social peace for five years of a group especially sensitive to air traffic. This summer is expected to record passengers and problems arising from the protests of other groups, such as strikes by pilots of Air Europa and Air Nostrum, or the strikes of French controllers.
End of conflict
The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, on which Enaire organically depends, stressed that this agreement will increase "the efficiency, quality, flexibility and robustness of ENAIRE's services, dispelling the ghost of conflict in a group that provides a crucial service for a sector as important in our economy as aviation".
The agreement establishes working conditions that will make it possible to increase the efficiency and operational productivity of ENAIRE and the quality, flexibility and robustness of the services it provides, while improving the professional career and reconciliation of controllers, according to the ministry.
The Secretary of State and President of Enaire, David Lucas, thanked the majority unions "for their high vision" and said that "it will allow ENAIRE to increase its competitiveness, reduce its operating costs and meet the objectives set for Spain by the European Commission in its Performance Plans".
The agreement does not affect the 160 controllers of the private companies Skyway (formerly FerroNATS) and Saerco, which provide service in the 12 towers partially privatized since 2011 (Sabadell, Madrid-Cuatro Vientos; A Coruña, Alicante, Ibiza, Jerez, Seville, Valencia, Vigo, La Palma, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura). This group is leading strikes so that their conditions are equated to those of Enaire's comrades.
The agreement reached on Monday for this collective agreement had ten votes in favor of the USCA and OCCA unions, which represent more than 80% of ENAIRE's air traffic controllers, and only two votes against the SPICA and SNCA unions.
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