Thousands of Airbus employees in Spain have begun an indefinite strike after workers rejected a company proposal on pay and working conditions. The action started on August 25, 2026, following three-hour stoppages and employee assemblies the previous day, and the workers' strike committee says it covers full 24-hour periods with no scheduled end date.
Workers at Airbus facilities across Spain voted not to postpone the walkout while negotiations continued. Unions said the company's proposal did not offer firm enough commitments or deadlines on several unresolved issues. The two sides were scheduled to return to mediation on August 27.
Unions claimed that around 90% of eligible employees joined the first full day of the strike and said the action had begun to slow production. Airbus has not confirmed that participation figure and has not disclosed whether aircraft or component output has been affected, according to Reuters reporting cited by AeroTime.
The walkout follows an earlier round of stoppages held from July 1 through July 23. Workers later rejected a proposed agreement in a companywide referendum, and unions filed a new strike notice covering the August action. Airbus presented a fresh proposal during mediation on August 21 that included pay increases tied to inflation, an additional increase intended to restore purchasing power, and further negotiations on other conditions. The company also offered to withdraw a court appeal involving sick-leave payments and to return money previously deducted from employees, according to documents published by the strike committee. Another proposal was submitted on August 26, but the strike remained in effect.
The dispute is broader than pay alone. It covers wages, remote work, holiday scheduling, employee transportation, and the use of the Bradford Factor, a formula that measures the frequency and duration of employee absences. Workers also want written guarantees that organisational changes will not cost jobs or weaken working conditions, including changes connected with Airbus's space activities in Spain. A further demand concerns differences in pay progression between newer employees and longer-serving staff doing similar work.
What makes the dispute significant for the wider Airbus system is where the work sits. Airbus employs about 14,000 people across eight sites in Spain, spanning commercial aircraft, military aviation, helicopters and space systems. The commercial-aircraft operation alone employs roughly 4,500 people at Getafe, Illescas and CΓ‘diz, and those plants produce major structures used right across the Airbus product line.
Getafe assembles horizontal stabilisers for the A320, A330 and A350 families as well as the rear fuselage section of the A350. Illescas produces large composite structures, including A350 wing covers and the main-deck cargo door for the A350F. CΓ‘diz manufactures stabiliser components and A320neo engine fan cowls. In a production system built around synchronised deliveries between plants in several countries, a prolonged interruption at any one of those sites has the potential to ripple outward.
Airbus also carries out military-aircraft work at Getafe and Seville, operates a helicopter plant in Albacete, and develops and builds satellite and launcher hardware in the Madrid area. For now, the company has not published any assessment of the strike's impact on output, and negotiations were continuing on a daily basis as the indefinite action went on.
Sources: AeroTime. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Marco Bianchi.
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