Weekend airport bar strike may be averted

Bar and restaurant staff at Palma's Son San Joan airport go on strike today over lack of staff and working conditions. An estimated 60.000 passengers will face disruption and long queues in the terminal, but there was some good news last night and that was, if management show signs of co-operating with staff, industrial actions, due to continue tomorrow and in to Sunday, may well be called off. Yesterday however, bar and restaurant staff at the airport were adamant that today's strike must go ahead, despite the problems it will cause to passengers. Bar staff spoke of a nightmare summer during which colleagues have suffered heart attacks and been forced to take time off work for exhaustion because of the huge work load and massive staff shortage. One of the worst effected areas is Terminal C, from where the vast majority of British charter flights leave. The Mediterranean shopping village has not only limited bar and restaurant facilities, but also has not enough staff to cope with demand, made worse by arriving passengers passing through the terminal as well. The company with the tender for the bars and restaurants, Recygsa, repeated that it is open to dialogue last night. However, it is taking measures to ensure that the strike causes minimal problems. Free water distribution points will be set up about the airport and all passengers' “basic” needs will be accounted for. Talks are expected to take place today while the strike goes on. This weekend is a busy one because of the All Saints bank holiday. Over 120.000 passengers are expected in total and airport authority AENA hopes that the strike will not continue tomorrow and on Sunday as originally threatened by bar and restaurant staff. The airport strike however is the first of many planned this winter. Yesterday postmen and women announced that they are prepared to take strike action from Monday. A protest was staged outside the main Palma post office over working conditions and pay.