‘Summer travel chaos’ warning as Heathrow workers vote to strike
Travellers are being warned to prepare for travel chaos this summer after Heathrow became the latest airport to be hit by the threat of strikes this summer.
The union Unite said industrial action could ‘potentially shut down’ the airport and warned of ‘travel chaos’. EasyJet staff at Stansted last week voted to strike, while a ballot over industrial action is currently taking place at Gatwick.
Heathrow staff will walk out for six days on July 26 and until August 24, while industrial action at Gatwick could begin in mid-August if workers vote for it.
At Stansted, easyJet check-in staff are to strike for 17 days in July and August over a long-running pay dispute, set to start from July 25, with the final few days of the strike taking place from August 23 to 27.
Meanwhile, British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) members who work for British Airways are currently voting on strike action and have until Monday July 22 to return their votes.
If they ballot to strike, action could begin on August 5.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling warned the union to ‘think twice before going ahead with these disputes and undermining people’s summer’.
Heathrow staff will walk out on July 26 and 27 and August 5, 6, 23, 24 August over pay.
Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said: "There is deepening anger over pay among workers who are essential to the smooth running of Heathrow Airport".
The dispute is also in part because of different pay rates for the same job, as well as discontent with the pay package of airport boss John Holland-Kaye.
According to the company’s annual report, last year the Heathrow boss banked a 103.2% pay increase, from £2.1m in 2017 to £4.2m in 2018, thanks largely to a long-term bonus scheme.
The union said the airport’s current pay offer amounted to £3.75 a day extra for its lowest-paid workers.
Heathrow urged the union to return to the bargaining table to resolve the pay dispute.
"We will be working alongside our airline partners to minimise disruption caused to passengers as they look towards their well-deserved summer holidays," it said.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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