Norwegian Air Employees in Spain ‘Declare War’ Against the Company

Norwegian airline employees in Spain have announced that they will “declare war” against the company after trying to mediate through their issues has failed miserably.

The workforce of Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) in Spain has put in a demand against the company on a National Court level.

The company already had a conciliation claim filed against them, before the Interconfederal Service of Mediation and Arbitration (SIMA), for the illegal assignment of work.

The mediation for the illegal assignment demand was held last Wednesday, May 20, at 11.00am, which was attended by both representatives of NAS and Norwegian Air Resources Spain (NAR ES), the company’s Spanish subsidiary.

Both unions, USO and SEPLA Norwegian, highlighted that one of their lawyers in Spain had attended on behalf of NAS, which showed both “disinterest and lack of respect.” Once the unions explained the reasons behind the lawsuit (on being the fear that the company would abandon its staff in Spain), the mediator offered the lawyer the possibility that NAS “would commit to pay the cost of future ERTE or ERE measures.”

The response from the Norwegian Air Shuttle representative, according to USO and SEPLA, was that it is NAR ES should he the one to take charge of these, which they considered was not worth continuing with the mediation. “Following this shameful attitude by NAS, the next step is to file a lawsuit in the National Court,” asserted the unions.

Recently, the government of the Canary Islands, where the Scandinavian airline has bases, specifically in Gran Canaria and Tenerife South, has promised to mediate in this matter and to try and bring closer the divisions between the workers and the company.