Strikes planned at Gatwick and Stansted
15.08.08
Holidaymakers face travel chaos over the Bank Holiday after ground staff at Gatwick and Stansted voted to strike in disputes over pay, with workers at other UK airports expected to follow in separate votes next week. Virgin Atlantic, Monarch, Thomson Fly, First Choice, North West, Air Malta, Air Transat, Oman Air will be among those affected, along with a number of smaller airlines.
Baggage handlers and check-in staff are to stage two 24-hour walkouts, on August 25 and again on August 29, after rejecting a 3 percent pay offer. The workers are calling for a one-year deal in excess of 5 percent - the current level of RPI - and sick pay to be reinstated after the company removed it for the first three days of absence due to illness, including industrial injury.
The Unite union said workers at Gatwick and Stansted, employed by Swissport, had rejected the ‘paltry’ pay offer as it was well below the rate of inflation. It warned that the dispute was likely to spread to other airports in the next few days. A ballot will be held for Manchester staff on Monday and Unite members at Swissport will also shortly be balloted at Birmingham and Newcastle airports. The union said it expected workers to vote in favour of striking.
Steve Turner, Unite National Officer, said: ‘Our members are already struggling to keep up with rising food and energy costs. This pay offer is an insult to professional, hard working men and women who have to operate in extremely difficult conditions.'
‘We are demanding a national solution to this dispute, which addresses the real cost increases our members face. Unite has requested a national level meeting with the company to resolve this dispute but the clock is ticking and if this does not deliver, our members will strike.’
Travellers departing from Stansted are also facing disruption from a separate dispute, as workers who screen luggage prepare to strike after rejecting a 1.5 percent pay offer. The workers, employed by Airfield Services, are also demanding a 5 percent pay offer to keep pace with inflation.
Swissport said it was aware that a ‘small number’ of its staff were planning to strike. A spokesman said: ‘Swissport believes that a fair offer has been made to the unions in the light of the current economic climate that reflects the cost of living increase. Swissport is working with the airport operator and the customer airlines to minimise disruption to the travelling public.’
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