About a thousand workers, according to the police, and 3,500 according to the organisers, have marched through central Sevilla to reject the pre-agreement signed by CCOO. The workforce will vote this Friday in a referendum on the company's new proposal.
The protest, which started at the Puerta de Jerez and ended at the Plaza de San Francisco, has been the largest recorded since the national strike began on July 1. Employees from the Sevilla plants of San Pablo and Tablada, along with those from the Cádiz factory, chanted slogans such as "Profits through the skies, conditions through the floors" and displayed banners with the slogan "Make Airbus great again".
The assertive atmosphere was marked by the presence of two people dressed as gorillas, who caught the attention of passersby. The mobilization comes after Airbus management issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the unions to assess the pre-agreement reached last Friday with CCOO, which included a global salary review of 12% during the validity of the agreement.
The other unions represented in the company —UGT, CGT, SIPA, ATP, and UTIL— outright rejected that pre-agreement and agreed to initiate procedures for an indefinite strike starting on August 24. However, on Wednesday, the company presented a new proposal that will be put to a referendum among the workers this Friday.
The General Secretary of UGT FICA Andalucía, José Manuel Rodríguez Saucedo, who participated in the demonstration, explained that his union will respect the workforce's decision. "If the workforce ratifies the agreement, our organization will support it. If they believe it does not meet their expectations, we will continue with the mobilizations until we achieve a contract that guarantees fair working conditions," he stated.
From CGT, Daniel Fernández, a member of the Airbus San Pablo committee, was more critical. He stated that the pre-agreement "has not yet been passed or accepted by the assemblies of the centres", which is why they consider it "without any legitimacy". Fernández insisted that "the most important thing is needed", referring to the workers' opinion.
Fernández recalled that the strike, which has already lasted 22 days, is "of the workers" and has erupted "due to the loss of rights that we have been dragging for the last few years, from the loss of purchasing power to the cut in social benefits". He asserted that the workforce has "said enough, both to a management that has had million-euro profits and to a way of labour relations that has led to the last agreements always being detrimental to the workers".
The CGT representative acknowledged that the company's new proposal "substantially improves the previous one", but warned that workers are still losing purchasing power. "The company has made 22 billion euros in profits over these years and we have lost 12% of our salary," he emphasised.
Mobilizations will continue this Friday at the factory gates, coinciding with the referendum vote. Workers hope their vote will determine the course of the labour conflict, which affects more than 10,000 employees across Spain.
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