Volaris airline employees are indefinitely delaying a strike originally planned for Friday.
Volaris workers asked the company to start talks to resolve the labor dispute, alleging they had not received the profit-sharing payments they are entitled to by law. Other complaints included extended work hours, late reimbursements for travel expenses, minimal breaks and unjustified dismissals. The strike was expected to take place among staff in Monterrey, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Cancún.
“We want to emphasize that our objective is not to harm the company or the customers who trust the services we provide. We understand that flights and customer service are of the utmost importance, so we are willing to talk and find a fair solution,” airline staff said in a statement.
While the newspaper Milenio reported that the strike would be delayed until Monday, it now appears that the work stoppage is indefinitely postponed.
The union that represents Volaris employees, the Mexican Union of Aeronautic Industry Workers (STIA), reported that, as of now, it has not promoted or initiated any strike procedure at Volaris.
“STIA does not carry out acts outside of the law, much less that threaten the job stability of its members,” the union said in a statement.
“For this reason, it condemns any action aimed at generating confusion and uncertainty among industry workers and the thousands of customers who travel every day.”
According to the union, the Volaris Collective Agreement underwent a comprehensive review in 2022 and won the approval of 87% of employees. However, workers have criticized the union for not defending their interests, calling for the strike through channels unrelated to the labor organization.
On Wednesday, Volaris canceled 35 flights. An anonymous source told the newspaper Expansión that “there is a lot of confusion about the flights these days. Volaris is putting a lot of pressure on its crews.”
Volaris denied that the cancellations were related to its staff.
“Volaris informs that the changes in the flight scheduled today are due to external factors and typical of the daily operation of an airline, including weather, maintenance, the presence of volcanic ash and delays in the delivery of aircrafts. None of the delays are related to our crews.”
On Thursday, Volaris reported that it was operating normally.
With reports from Milenio, El Universal and Expansion
