Airbus staff have narrowly rejected the pay pre-agreement negotiated between the company and CCOO. UGT calls for an immediate resumption of dialogue, while SIPA withdraws the strike and leaves mobilisations in the hands of other unions.
49.15% of voters said no to the agreement, compared to 45.95% who supported it, in a consultation with an 81.4% participation rate from the workforce, nearly 12,000 workers. The result, announced by Alfonso Mora, president of the inter-centre committee and representative of CCOO, leaves the company in a compromised situation, with the workforce divided and without a pay agreement to end the conflict.
UGT, which supported the strike but did not sign the pre-agreement, has been the first union to react. Through a statement, the organisation led by Pepe Álvarez has demanded an immediate resumption of negotiations and announced that it will act with humility but with determination to reach an agreement that recognises the contribution of the workforce and the economic results of Airbus. The union believes that the rejection at the polls is a clear and unappealable mandate that it absolutely respects.
SIPA, the union that called the strike and later signed the pre-agreement with the company, has taken a step back. In a statement, it asserts that it will not ratify the agreement due to the lack of a broad majority and announces that on Monday, July 27, 2026, it will return to work as normal, withdrawing the strike ballot. In this way, it leaves the possibility of presenting a new strike call in the hands of UGT, CGT, and UTIL.
The rejection of the agreement has also generated internal discontent within SIPA, where some representatives have publicly apologised for signing the pact without prior consultation in assembly. There has even been a resignation from one of the members of the negotiating table.
The strike, which began on July 1, has paralysed all five Airbus plants in Spain for almost a month, located in Madrid, Seville, Cádiz, and Albacete, where more than 14,000 people work. The company, for its part, calls for calm and dialogue to move forward and confirms that activities will resume as usual on Monday. However, it admits that a period of uncertainty and concern is expected, and urges maintaining respect within teams to find a way out.
The conflict erupted when Airbus management, led by CEO Guillaume Faury, requested greater effort from the workforce to meet delivery schedules. The unions, led by UGT, CGT, SIPA, UTIL, and ATP, called for an indefinite strike starting August 24, just after the summer break, to express their rejection of the pre-agreement that CCOO first negotiated with the company. Now, with the rejection at the polls, UGT urges the recovery of democratic tools such as assemblies and referendums for collective decisions.
For the workers at the Airbus plant in Seville, located in the Tablada neighbourhood, the immediate future is uncertain. The return to normality on Monday does not guarantee a stable working environment, and the ball is now in the court of the unions that still have the option to call for new mobilisations. The company, meanwhile, insists on dialogue as a way to overcome the crisis.
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