Cleaning staff will go on indefinite strike at Madrid airport

The AENA-run cleaning service at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport has announced an indefinite strike that will start for night shift employees on April 8th at 11:00 p.m. The state Federation of Services, Mobility, and Consumer Affairs, the UGT, released a statement stating that the step was necessary because of “the need to address the unification of agreements, the repeated breaches of these agreements, and the existing shortage of staff.” They also bemoan “the new cleaning requirements and methods imposed by AENA,” which they say “has generated a situation of constant stress and pressure” for the sanitation staff.

Twenty-nine percent more passengers travelled in 2024 than the year before, totalling 66,196,984. According to FeSMC-UGT, this notable rise implies that cleaning employees must bear a heavy “physical and emotional burden” each day in order to deliver high-quality service. Serveo Facility Management SAU, which operates in Terminals 1, 2, and 3, Serveo Servicios SAU, which operates in Terminal 4, and Optima Facility Services, which operates T-4 Satellite, are the companies that are impacted by the strike.

The striking committee draws attention to sick leave coverage, which is “numerous” across all terminals, in relation to unmet agreements. “We were without a replacement for as long as forty or forty-five days. The firms guaranteed that this issue will be fixed. We had to quadruple the regions that should typically be given because of the extreme wear and tear. According to Fernanda Correira, a committee member who represents the Workers’ Union (USO), “making promises seems very easy, but delivering is not so easy.” In addition, AENA has started surveying passengers about the quality of its services. To make sure the image is as “perfect” as possible, a sizable number of cleaning personnel are sent to the site where one of these surveys is conducted. On the other hand, other terminal components are overlooked.

Committee members have described nighttime as “the most critical time.” For the cleaning staff, the homeless population is a “serious problem” because it has grown from 30 or 40 to around 500 in the past ten years. They must travel two by two in the event of an incident, thus they work in terror. They claim that cleaning their regions takes a lot more time and effort and has an impact on everything else.

In the past, we employees would return home exhausted from the physical strain, but now days, the emotional component is what matters most. From the beginning to the end, we are under pressure to perform. In addition to the businesses, we also voice our displeasure with AENA, their client. Although everyone wants the airport to be clean, nobody appreciates the job we do. Not even the travellers, who occasionally even make fun of us. One of the 700 employees that make up the cleaning services workforce, including temporary workers, states, “We have a huge amount of sick leave for mental health reasons.”

The ASAE union, which has been against AENA for the “out-of-control” situation with regard to the number of homeless persons, says it “supports the strike due to AENA’s continued financial cuts in contracts.” “We completely understand that they want to work in decent and safe environments and not have to endure insults, threats, and attacks from the 500 people living in poverty at Barajas Airport, another reason for the protest,” they say. The striking employees “regret in advance any deep inconvenience this situation may cause to airport users.”

In the meantime, attempts to address the homeless disagreement between Madrid City Council and infrastructure administrators have not been successful. Both parties have remained silent during the “high tension” moments, expressing their profound care about the matter while frequently ignoring their obligations. The trend has not improved at all, and it may possibly worsen in the upcoming months due to the absence of alternative housing for these individuals, even if winter and the unfavourable weather are ending.