EasyJet Portugal cabin crew vote for October, pre-Christmas strikes

LISBON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - EasyJet's Portugal-based cabin crew, voted on Thursday to go on strike between October 2 and 6 and again from December 19 to 23 to protest poor working conditions, in a move likely to ground hundreds of flights at Portuguese airports, a spokesperson for the SNPVAC union said.

The first strike alone is expected to ground some 500 scheduled EasyJet flights to and from Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports, excluding any minimum-service flights yet to be determined by authorities, according to union estimates.

The spokesperson for the leading Portuguese cabin crew union said working conditions for Portugal-based crew "continued to deteriorate despite warnings from the union that the airline had failed to address".

The complaints centre on unstable rosters, breaches of the company agreement, discriminatory treatment compared with pilots, operational planning failures, and pressure to work overtime to cover staff shortages, the spokesperson said.

The second stoppage could have an even greater impact on the low-cost carrier's operations, as it coincides with the busy Christmas travel season, when airlines operate fuller flight schedules.

EasyJet said in a statement it was "extremely disappointed" by the strike plans that come despite ongoing talks mediated by the country's labour authority DGERT. The talks are aimed at reaching an agreement that would address employees' concerns while protecting the sustainability of its business in Portugal, it added. 

It described the union's demands as "unworkable", saying crew are paid well above Portugal's national average, and added it would do everything possible to minimise disruption to passengers' travel plans.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Louise Heavens)