The FeSMC-UGT Air Sector denounces the serious neglect of responsibilities by AENA and the passivity of companies in the Handling sector in the face of the continued deterioration of security at Spanish airports and the growing risk to the physical and mental integrity of thousands of workers.
He FeSMC-UGT Air Sector denounces the recent violent attack suffered by a ground employee at the Palma de Mallorca Airport, with serious injuries, and affirms that, unfortunately, it is not an isolated or unforeseeable event, because an event with worse consequences has already occurred at the Gran Canaria airport.
All this is the direct consequence of a failed airport and labor management modelwhich has normalized violence, has underestimated the risks derived from the attention to passengers and aircraft and has repeatedly ignored the warnings issued by this union organization and the prevention bodies themselves.
AENA maintains obsolete security protocols, especially in areas of direct attention to the public, where the most serious incidents are concentrated.
The behavior of some people, who take out their frustrations with airport staff, is unacceptable, but it is also unacceptable to not establish adequate protection and security protocols that prevent this type of violent acts.
The mere presence of private security or State security forces and bodies cannot be used as an alibi, when the system itself is designed without preventive or effective intervention capacity.
Companies in the Handling sector cannot continue to evade their direct responsibility as employers.
A multitude of complaints to labor inspections regarding occupational risk prevention are made every month.
Airport service bidding companies are obliged to guarantee the safety and health of their staff in all aspects related to work, including risks derived from third parties.
These companies maintain insufficient staff, with work overload and constant operational pressure.
The psychosocial risks of external violence are not adequately evaluated or updated and, in most cases, there is a lack of clear protocols, specific training and real support after incidents, both violent and operational.
Security at Spanish airports cannot continue to be based on the risk exposure of those who make daily operations possible.
Every preventable attack is a shared responsibility and further proof that the system is failing.
AENA and the companies in the handling sector must act immediately.
The safety of airport personnel is neither negotiable nor postponeable.
