MADRID, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Six Spanish trade unions on Wednesday accepted the proposal made by the government-appointed mediator Gregorio Tudela over the cost cutting program by the Spanish flagship airline Iberia.
Tudela presented a proposal which reduced dismissals from the previous 3,807 to 3,141, while extending the current cost cutting program to 2015.
The plan, which had already been accepted by IAG, the holding group Iberia has been part of since 2011, prioritizes dismissals via voluntary redundancies and early retirements.
The agreement between Iberia and Spain's two largest unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Union General de Trabajadores (UGT) along with another four trade unions, implies the cancellation of the next week's strikes. Iberia said earlier that it was losing 3 million euros (3.8 million U.S. dollars) a day because of the strikes.
However, three unions, Stavla, CTA Tierra and CGT, did not agree with the plan, while another two - CNT and CESHA - are organizing strikes on March 25, 26 and 27. The Spanish union of airline pilots SEPLA is also said to be "studying" the agreement.
The Spanish government has encouraged the SEPLA to sign the agreement as soon as possible while considering the agreement as "positive and favorable."
Iberia presented its first cost cutting program last November in which it proposed to shed 4,500 jobs due to losses of 850 million euros suffered between 2008 and September 2012. It has since softened the plan by reducing dismissals.
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