Airbus Spain Workers Approve Deal to End Months of Strikes

Airbus workers in Spain have approved a labor agreement aimed at ending months of intermittent strike action, unions announced on Thursday, bringing a prolonged workplace dispute closer to a resolution.

The agreement includes measures designed to restore purchasing power lost to inflation, along with future wage increases linked to inflation. It also provides greater flexibility over holiday arrangements and restores remote working to 40% for eligible employees.

The vote followed a preliminary agreement reached between Airbus and labor unions on September 4. According to the referendum results, 87% of the workforce participated in deciding whether to accept the proposed terms.

Among those who took part, 20.26% voted against the agreement, while 2.98% abstained. The remaining majority supported the proposal, clearing the way for the labor deal to take effect and for the strike action to end.

Airbus welcomed the outcome, saying the agreement would allow the European aerospace manufacturer to “maintain a solid and competitive position in Spain.”

However, the company acknowledged that the number of employees who opposed the deal indicates that further work is needed to address concerns among its Spanish workforce. Airbus said there remains “much to do to satisfy the expectations” of all employees.

The labor dispute began in July, when Airbus workers launched intermittent strikes over several workplace and compensation issues. Key concerns included salary increases that employees said failed to keep pace with inflation, tighter monitoring of workplace attendance and new requirements for office-based employees to spend more time working on site.

Remote-working arrangements became another significant point of contention as employees pushed for greater flexibility following changes to company workplace policies.

The newly approved Airbus Spain labor agreement addresses several of those concerns while providing a framework for wage adjustments and hybrid working arrangements. With workers backing the proposal, Airbus and unions can now move toward ending the industrial action that has affected the company's Spanish operations since July.