Iberia told its employees yesterday that it will reduce the number of planned job cuts from 4,500 to 3,807. Remaining layoffs, which the International Airlines Group (IAG) and labor unions are demanding, will continue as planned, and the labor unions will still go forward with their strike.
Fearing a 15-day strike that could cost Iberia hundreds of millions of euros, the Government is ready to begin an arbitrage process that would diminish the strike's impact on the Spanish economy. The Prime Minister's office will use a law from 1977 that empowers it to delay a strike by two months or avoid it entirely through an arbitrage process. Ultimately, the government should make sure that its intervention does not end up compromise Iberia's restructuring plans.
