“Sepla’s presence in the works councils is crucial to continue being an active and influential voice”

Last 4th July, the elections to the works council were held at the Air Europa airline’s Palma de Mallorca work centre, with the Sepla Union winning the two seats that were up for voting in the pilots’ electoral college.

The results obtained have allowed Sepla to become the highest representative of the entire pilots’ collective in the framework of the new Works Council elected for the centre of Palma de Mallorca.

The works councils, as well as the personnel delegates, are the organs of unitary representation of the workers as a whole, regardless of whether or not they are members, and as such, their mission is to ensure and monitor strict compliance with labour regulations in the work centre in which they have been elected, since, among other reasons, the company, when taking certain decisions that affect the workers in that work centre, must first consult the works council or personnel delegates. These obligations regarding the need to consult the works councils or personnel delegates on certain company decisions undoubtedly allow for greater scrutiny and control of company decisions that affect, among others, the group of pilots at the work centres in question.

The election of the works councils or employee delegates takes place every 4 years through an electoral process that is normally called by the majority or most representative unions, and in which all the workers of the work center concerned participate, by means of a direct voting system that can be in person or by registered mail.

The presence and participation in these unitary representation bodies not only allows a more direct control and scrutiny of the business decisions affecting the pilots’ group within the work center in question, but also plays a decisive role in reinforcing the presence and negotiating strength of the union sections formed in the different airlines where the union is present, since it gives greater weight and legitimacy to the union to be able to enforce the interests, not only of its members, but also of the pilots’ group as a whole.

While it is true that the collective agreements currently in force in the various airlines and which apply to the pilots’ collective have been signed and continue to be signed by the vast majority of the company councils, it is important to remember and emphasise that the strength of any trade union organisation, such as Sepla, and therefore of the collective which it represents, is determined by its level of presence and participation in the unitary representation bodies mentioned above, so the presence of the Sepla union within the works councils and among the staff delegates is crucial in order to continue to be an active and influential voice in future company decisions that may have an impact on the rights and working conditions that pilots are entitled to.