The Left group in the European Parliament stands in solidarity with Airbus workers taking collective action to protest their possible dismissal.

Workers across Spain have gone on strike today as part of broader coordinated action. We support their demands to protect all jobs and to immediately halt the dismissals.

Airbus has announced that it intends to layoff a tenth of its workforce globally. In the European Union, this will affect over 1 600 workers in Spain, 5 000 in France and 6 000 in Germany.

It is scandalous that the billions in public subsidies Airbus received from EU member states came with no job safeguard guarantees, especially as workers grapple with a pandemic. At the same time, Airbus continues to announce new ambitious projects while keeping with the dismissals’ policy.

Airbus is part of a strategic sector for the EU’s industrial sovereignty. However, support for this sector must not come at the expense of workers and their rights or to further enrich private owners. Therefore it is essential that such strategic sectors for the economy come under public ownership to ensure alignment with national and environmental priorities.

We demand that Airbus listen to the demands of its workers and immediately stop any job cuts. The EU must ensure that any EU or state aid comes with guarantees to protect jobs and ensure alignment with decarbonisation priorities and environmental commitments.