MADRID, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna said Friday the government was "keeping all of the options open" amid a partial strike by security staff at Barcelona's El Prat airport.
The government was "keeping all of the options open ... to minimize the effects" of any strike, and the consequences "would be difficult to predict," he said.
The minister refused to rule out the option of replacing security staff on strike with civil guards or police.
However, this plan was criticized by the Civil Guard Association which on Friday released a statement, saying that the government had decided to "turn to badly paid Civil Guards to put an end to a private conflict."
"We are convinced that as a result of this, our companions will now face the anger of some workers who will see our agents as their enemy in this problem," the statement said.
Security staff at El Prat airport on Thursday evening voted to reject the pay rise they had been offered and to continue with the strike which had caused delays to passengers using the airport over the past week.
They rejected the offer of a pay rise of 12 payments of 200 euros (235 U.S. dollars) a month, voting instead to continue negotiating for 15 separate payments of 250 euros (294 dollars) over the year.
It means that the partial strikes planned for Friday and Sunday will continue with a threat of a 24-hour strike starting on Monday, a decision the minister described as "inexplicable."
The partial strikes involve one-hour stoppages every Friday, Sunday and Monday, which cause delays for passengers boarding at the airport terminals.
