Staff have been waiting for a pay rise since 2014
More than 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew at 18 airports will strike for 48 hours on Christmas eve after having received no pay rise since 2014.
Unite members employed by Swissport will walk out on December 23 and 24 at Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds/Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and Stansted.
Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said:
“We appreciate that this is a very busy time of year at the UK’s airports and that’s why we are calling for the company to engage in constructive talks under the auspices of Acas to resolve this dispute. Unite’s door is open 24/7 for such talks.
Our members are only taking this industrial action as a last resort in a bid to reach a fair settlement – our members have not had a pay rise since 2014.”
Unite members voted by 62.5 per cent to reject a 4.65 per cent three year pay deal for 2015 to 2017, which the union said barely kept pace with inflation. Staff are also protesting frozen overtime pay.
See: Murdoch’s Sun says ‘crush’ rail staff and sack them if they strike
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4 Responses to “Airport workers to strike on Christmas Eve over wages”
Imran Khan
Everyone’s been waiting for a pay rise Ada. Do wake up and pay attention!
Mike Stallard
I am going to fly out to the UAE before Easter. I usually go BA.
Not now. I shall use an airline that is reliable.
GodfreyR
We urgently need tougher laws on Trade Unions and strikes.
Fred
Translation:
“Airport staff have been offered a pay-rise that matches inflation. But they want more than inflation. That is, they want relatively more money for doing exactly the same job. And if they don’t get it they’ll go on strike. They threaten to strike because they know, unlike people who work in a shop or an office, they striking would be immensely inconvenient and costly to the country and therefore feel it’s a very effective tool to get what they want.
Hardcore left wingers, like Adam Barnett, approve of this. The rest of the country does not. Left wingers therefore demonstrate, once again, that they are out of touch with popular opinion. Being out of touch with popular opinion means being unelectable.”