Ryanair faces bumpy ride in Spain as ground handling staff call strikes over working conditions: these are the affected dates
Two major trade unions in the sector have announced the dates when industrial action is due to take place, with the first three-day walk out imminent
Antonio Ramírez Cerezo
Madrid
Tuesday, 5 August 2025, 11:02
There could be a turbulent time ahead for Ryanair in Spain in the coming weeks during one of its busiest months of the year. The UGT trade union section at Azul Handling - Ryanair's ground handling subsidiary in Spain - has called a strike, which is scheduled to start in the middle of August and take place every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of the year. The concerns of the trade union are the "ongoing precarious conditions and breaches of labour rights, with which the Ryanair company punishes its staff". The UGT is joined by another large union in the sector of low-cost aviation - the CGT.
The first three days of the strike will take place on 15, 16 and 17 August and will be repeated every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 31 December 2025. The strikes will take place from 5am to 9am; from 12pm to 3pm; and from 9pm to 11.59pm.
On 4 August, the union requested mediation before the Servicio Interconfederal de Mediación y Arbitraje (SIMA) as a step before calling a state strike in Azul Handling.
According to the UGT, the reasons for the strike include the lack of stable job creation and failure to consolidate working hours for part-time permanent staff; pressure and coercion to work extra hours - both regular and voluntary - with some workers even facing disproportionate penalties; repeated breaches of rulings from the joint committee of the sectoral agreement regarding guarantees and bonuses; and the illegal restrictions on returning to work after medical leave and on adjusting working hours to allow for work-life balance.
According to federal secretary of the FeSMC-UGT José Manuel Pérez Grande, Azul Handling puts pressure on its workers that "violates basic labour rights and systematically ignores union demands". The union demands that the company "withdraw the sanctions, comply with the rulings of the joint committee and immediately open a real negotiation process to improve the working conditions of the more than 3,000 workers affected throughout the country".
