BCN airport "industrial action"

I am scheduled to fly to BCN tomorrow for a cruise and just got an alert from American Airlines that "A possible industrial action in Barcelona, August 11-16, may affect your upcoming travel plans." They go on to say I might be able to change my plans without a change fee. I see that airport security has been staging slow downs creating long security clearance lines with some passengers missing flights and that they may proceed to a full strike. Would that affect an in bound flight?

Of course it could as you will have to go through immigration.i would change unless you have 6 hours between arrival and last boarding but even then i would go day before in case of aircraft problems

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Company who runs security at El Prat accepted meditated settlement but workers rejected it. So far full strike scheduled from Aug 14. Since Eulen is only company doing security I don't think anyone knows what full strike actually means

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I now see this on a different thread:

"durante

Cool Cruiser

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280 Posts

Joined Mar 2009

Posted August 7th, 2017, 01:11 AM

"There has been a lot about the delays in the news over the last week, and sorry you got caught up in it. I have read that people are being advised to allow at least 4 hours before their scheduled flight departing Barcelona.

I had some concerns that flights arriving into Barcelona on the strike days would be similarly affected as we flew from Heathrow to Barcelona last night, Sunday arriving just after 10pm, however there were no queues whatsoever. Plenty of other flights also arriving at that time of the night, so it's difficult to predict what others might experience, but best to allow that extra time for departing Barcelona."

Based on that experience,I was hoping that it would not affect arrivals but it certainly makes it hard to plan. Thanks for the replies.

Company who runs security at El Prat accepted meditated settlement but workers rejected it. So far full strike scheduled from Aug 14. Since Eulen is only company doing security I don't think anyone knows what full strike actually means

 

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Any new information?

Last thing I read it's that Guardia Civil will fill the void created by Eulen which has an agreement with Govt of Catalonia to maintain 90% of service. But agreement and reality are different matters. Spain is on high alert to begin with so probably government will play it's part to ensure safety in El Prat.

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Not much to add for now, unfortunately. The Gov of Catalonia, which can only intervene in the issues related to level of service, has ruled that service level has to be at 90% of normal operations during the strike -in this country, the right to strike in services deemed to be "of public interest", which includes transportation among other, is subject to a "minimum level of service" decreed by the government which varies depending on the "gravity" of the situation.

This, however, does not always guarantee that it will really function at such level, in this case 90%, because sometimes workers practice a "slowdown strike" while they are in their jobs, theoretically covering the "minimum level of service". If that can be proven, they might get penalized later on, but that's normally months later, after a court process, blah, blah, blah and a fight with the unions. In fact, during the partial strikes these past two weeks, they've practised this form of strike in several occasions and the lines have increased during times in which the strike wasn't officially being followed.

However, and to make things worst, the underlying problem is that the Gov of Catalonia has its hands pretty tied because airports are run by AENA, the airport authority, which depends directly from the Gov of Spain. AENA and the Spanish Gov have been dragging their feet since the beginning of this strike in early August and it doesn't look like they are going to make any movement. The Spanish Gov has increased the staff of the Guardia Civil, the police body in charge of border control, but this won't help much because the security controls are outsourced to this EULEN company. There has been talking about Guardia Civil taking over their functions, but that's not constitutionally so straightforward, so we'll see how it evolves.

In short, we passengers are caught in the middle of a power struggle, and it sucks!

Not much to add for now, unfortunately. The Gov of Catalonia, which can only intervene in the issues related to level of service, has ruled that service level has to be at 90% of normal operations during the strike -in this country, the right to strike in services deemed to be "of public interest", which includes transportation among other, is subject to a "minimum level of service" decreed by the government which varies depending on the "gravity" of the situation.

 

This, however, does not always guarantee that it will really function at such level, in this case 90%, because sometimes workers practice a "slowdown strike" while they are in their jobs, theoretically covering the "minimum level of service". If that can be proven, they might get penalized later on, but that's normally months later, after a court process, blah, blah, blah and a fight with the unions. In fact, during the partial strikes these past two weeks, they've practised this form of strike in several occasions and the lines have increased during times in which the strike wasn't officially being followed.

 

However, and to make things worst, the underlying problem is that the Gov of Catalonia has its hands pretty tied because airports are run by AENA, the airport authority, which depends directly from the Gov of Spain. AENA and the Spanish Gov have been dragging their feet since the beginning of this strike in early August and it doesn't look like they are going to make any movement. The Spanish Gov has increased the staff of the Guardia Civil, the police body in charge of border control, but this won't help much because the security controls are outsourced to this EULEN company. There has been talking about Guardia Civil taking over their functions, but that's not constitutionally so straightforward, so we'll see how it evolves.

 

In short, we passengers are caught in the middle of a power struggle, and it sucks!

Thanks for your insight. Well said...."It sucks"

Hope others with update as new info becomes available.

Arrival/departure experiences would be helpful, as well.

Last year we arrived to find a baggage handler work action. Took two hours for our luggage to show up in the terminal.

Not much to add for now, unfortunately. The Gov of Catalonia, which can only intervene in the issues related to level of service, has ruled that service level has to be at 90% of normal operations during the strike -in this country, the right to strike in services deemed to be "of public interest", which includes transportation among other, is subject to a "minimum level of service" decreed by the government which varies depending on the "gravity" of the situation.

 

This, however, does not always guarantee that it will really function at such level, in this case 90%, because sometimes workers practice a "slowdown strike" while they are in their jobs, theoretically covering the "minimum level of service". If that can be proven, they might get penalized later on, but that's normally months later, after a court process, blah, blah, blah and a fight with the unions. In fact, during the partial strikes these past two weeks, they've practised this form of strike in several occasions and the lines have increased during times in which the strike wasn't officially being followed.

 

However, and to make things worst, the underlying problem is that the Gov of Catalonia has its hands pretty tied because airports are run by AENA, the airport authority, which depends directly from the Gov of Spain. AENA and the Spanish Gov have been dragging their feet since the beginning of this strike in early August and it doesn't look like they are going to make any movement. The Spanish Gov has increased the staff of the Guardia Civil, the police body in charge of border control, but this won't help much because the security controls are outsourced to this EULEN company. There has been talking about Guardia Civil taking over their functions, but that's not constitutionally so straightforward, so we'll see how it evolves.

 

In short, we passengers are caught in the middle of a power struggle, and it sucks!

Well, maybe if this continues that all the passengers will go someplace else and these people will have no jobs. We did not sign up to be in the middle of their power struggle. Plenty of other places in this world to go even though Barcelona is one of our favorates.

As if you didn't have industrial action in your own countries, please don't patronize. Also, note that maybe you're not used to this, but in this part of the world there's something called "workers' rights" so, as much as it sucks to us users, is wise to "know what's going on" before emitting such assertions.

Besides, from the 44 million passengers that his airport handles, a big chunk is local, so these "passengers" are local residents too. What do we do? emigrate?

As if you didn't have industrial action in your own countries, please don't patronize. Also, note that maybe you're not used to this, but in this part of the world there's something called "workers' rights" so, as much as it sucks to us users, is wise to "know what's going on" before emitting such assertions.

 

Besides, from the 44 million passengers that his airport handles, a big chunk is local, so these "passengers" are local residents too. What do we do? emigrate?

We have workers rights here too, but sometimes when people go on strike it does end with some out of jobs which sucks. Has to be a middle ground to end this. The big chunk of the users of the airport if they are the locals are not the big spenders. That would be the tourists and if they dry up it probably would be a big blow to the economy. The locals are stuck, the rest of us are not. That is what is going on as it is in the rest of the world. :(:(:(

... obviously, you're quite in the dark about macroeconomics here. I invite you to get educated on the matter, and then I'll be more than pleased to discuss it.

... obviously, you're quite in the dark about macroeconomics here. I invite you to get educated on the matter, and then I'll be more than pleased to discuss it.

I am just fine, but I think you just need a dose of common sense. 1 + 1 still equals 2.

I'm with EnricM on this one, strikes happen everywhere and at anytime, normally to make the most impact. It is actually better in Spain because they get penalized if they strike and therefore they are only doing a work to rules and go slow (which is still bad enough).

When I was departing from BCN last week, it was not as bad as was made out that it could be. I don't know what "normal" queues at BCN are like but I thought the queues were normal, what I would have expected. We went through security at about 7:45pm.

Oh no, ab21au, striking is legal and they don't get penalized per se... but in services considered to be of "national interest", this right is regulated so they can strike providing that a certain "level of service" is ensured so as not to completely stop a critical infrastructure (transport, police, fire brigades, hospitals, etc). That level of service is determined on a case by case. Only if that "minimum" is not respected then (sort of!) penalties can come into effect.

Normally, in my experience, except on specific hours (and on certain days during the year!), queues are less than 10' for the security check.

In any case, the queues these past two days have been very decent and at times there were no queues at all as reported in the news. However, this doesn't mean problems are over just yet. Enormous queues can come at any time until the issue is resolved, hopefully within the next weeks.

oh no, ab21au, striking is legal and they don't get penalized per se... But in services considered to be of "national interest", this right is regulated so they can strike providing that a certain "level of service" is ensured so as not to completely stop a critical infrastructure (transport, police, fire brigades, hospitals, etc). That level of service is determined on a case by case. Only if that "minimum" is not respected then (sort of!) penalties can come into effect.

 

Normally, in my experience, except on specific hours (and on certain days during the year!), queues are less than 10' for the security check.

 

In any case, the queues these past two days have been very decent and at times there were no queues at all as reported in the news. However, this doesn't mean problems are over just yet. Enormous queues can come at any time until the issue is resolved, hopefully within the next weeks.

+ 1 !!!

What's the latest of this slow down action.

1.) Industrial action is still officially on, so is the minimum service level, which has been established at 90%. However, the workers' union temporarily suspended the strike as a show of respect for the terrorist attack in Barcelona two days ago.

2.) Since no agreement between the parts is in sight, the government has decreed a "laude" (sorry, this is a very technical word I don't know in English!) which outcome will be compulsory for both parts. A "laude" is a sort of arbitration proceeding. In the next days, it's expected to be announced.

1.) Industrial action is still officially on, so is the minimum service level, which has been established at 90%. However, the workers' union temporarily suspended the strike as a show of respect for the terrorist attack in Barcelona two days ago.

 

2.) Since no agreement between the parts is in sight, the government has decreed a "laude" (sorry, this is a very technical word I don't know in English!) which outcome will be compulsory for both parts. A "laude" is a sort of arbitration proceeding. In the next days, it's expected to be announced.

Thanks. What you are saying is that the outcome will be mandated on both sides.

Yes

1.) Industrial action is still officially on, so is the minimum service level, which has been established at 90%. However, the workers' union temporarily suspended the strike as a show of respect for the terrorist attack in Barcelona two days ago.

 

2.) Since no agreement between the parts is in sight, the government has decreed a "laude" (sorry, this is a very technical word I don't know in English!) which outcome will be compulsory for both parts. A "laude" is a sort of arbitration proceeding. In the next days, it's expected to be announced.

If the action is not resolved, the Sunday Express in the UK indicates the following work actions through the rest of the year:

"Although the strikes are set to last for a total of 25 days, they will be spread out over the coming months on weekends and national days.

Starting on September 15, the 24-hour strikes will take place until December - including Christmas holidays.

Other scheduled dates include 17, 22, 24 and 29 September, 1, 6, 11, 15, 27, 30 and 31 October, 3 and 5 November and 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 December. "

Mike in Ohio, arriving in BCN in September

We are scheduled to leave through BCN airport on September 17, wonder what it will be like withe the predicted strike!

It's really frustrating sometimes to invest (waste?) time trying to explain how things are here in my homeland to immediately be questioned/denied by people/sources who know little or nothing about it, which in turn rely on other sources, which may or may not be obsolete by the time they're used. It really makes one wonder whether one's time is being wisely invested....

Eric, I am shocked that you doubt the bonafides of newspapers and other media outlets who report what they want their readers to know! (and not letting the truth or the facts get in the way of good copy) ;) ;)

In the immortal words of Fox Mulder "The truth is out there" and media outlets will not stop people like you, with a genuine interest in helping others and having no hidden agendas, from making the true facts available to those who also have a genuine interest.

I am slowly coming to the opinion that the Real Donald is on to something when he speaks (tweets) about fake news and the media.

Please continue to post the information that you have and ignore the 'flat earthers'.