Iberia reaches agreement with unions to negotiate five-year terms; wants to hear SEPLA proposal

Iberia reached (17-Dec-2012) an agreement with unions representing 93% of its staff on the terms of its 'Transformation Plan', which will be negotiated until 31-Jan-2013. Terms will be negotiated for a five-year period, through 2017. Iberia management reiterated its desire to rely chiefly on early retirements to achieve around two-thirds of the staff reduction called for in the plan, and is prepared to negotiate compensation for voluntary resignation and employee transfer. Management also "pledged" to keep Iberia Maintenance within the Group, on the condition it remains "profitable enough to grow, or to win new handling contracts". Management also called upon pilots union SEPLA to join in the agreement and negotiate with the other unions, and "wants to hear details" of SEPLA's proposal whereby pilots would accept a 51% pay cut. [more - original PR - Spanish]