Spanish airport workers who began a one day strike on 16 October have said it will continue once a week until Christmas if Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary continues to refuse to talk with them.
The budget airline is currently facing industrial action in both Spain and Italy in protest at the airline's aggressive refusal to talk with elected representatives and treat its workers with even minimum consideration.
Speaking in London after returning from a rally in Girona, Spain, where he delivered messages of solidarity from unions across Europe to striking workers, Ingo Marowsky, Aviation Section Secretary of the ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) said: "All Ryanair's workers are asking for is that Michael O'Leary treat them with a fraction of the respect he shows for his racehorses. As usual, at the first whiff of dissent he is threatening to pull out of the airports. But wherever he tries to relocate to he will need workers. Our message to him is listen, sit down with the unions and talk."
Marowsky continued: "No one wants to see passengers affected in the run up to Christmas, so let's get this solved by trying something that has proved a challenge for the airline's management for some time now - recognising that all its workers everywhere are human beings, with human and trade union rights."
Workers at Girona especially welcomed messages from Italy, where a parallel dispute is going on, and Ireland, where unions are currently working on averting a hostile takeover of the national Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus.
For more information contact ITF press officer, Sam Dawson, direct line: + 44 (0)20 7940 9260. E-mail: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk
International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF: HEAD OFFICE, ITF House, 49 - 60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR,Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7403 2733, Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7357 7871, Email: mail@itf.org.uk Web-page: www.itfglobal.org
Source: ITF (International Transport Workers Federation)