1000s of Spain’s Iberia workers protest job cuts

Thousands of employees at Spanish national airline Iberia have staged a rally in Madrid to protest the company’s plan to lay off thousands of workers.

The workers, carrying banners reading “Get your dirty hands off Iberia” and “British go home,” gathered outside the airline headquarters in the capital on Wednesday to protest against management’s plans to cut 3,800 jobs following its merger with British Airways, AFP reported.

“This is a total dismantling of the company by British Airways,” said Federico Castro, a retired Iberia flight steward.

“They are turning Iberia into a low-cost airline for the benefit of British Airways,” he added.

In an attempt to reduce costs, Iberia merged with British Airways in 2011 to form the International Airlines Group (IAG).

Last week, IAG announced plans to cut 3,800 jobs at Iberia, out of a total 20,000.

Cabin crew, ground staff and maintenance workers responded by announcing three five-day strikes, the first of which started on Monday and will last until Friday.

The airliner was forced to cancel hundreds of flights on Monday and Tuesday. The cancelations are expected to cost the airline and the struggling Spanish economy millions of euros.

Iberia reported a loss of 262 million euros in the first nine months of 2012.