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Holidaymakers face travel chaos over the Bank Holiday after ground staff at Gatwick and Stansted Airports voted to strike in disputes over pay, with workers at other airports expected to follow.
Baggage handlers and check-in staff at Gatwick are to stage two 24-hour walkouts, on August 25 and again on August 29, after rejecting a 3-per cent pay offer. Travellers could experience cancellations and lengthy delays as operations at a number of airlines are halted.
Virgin Atlantic, Monarch, Thomson Fly, First Choice, North West, Air Malta, Air Transat, Oman Air will be among those affected, along with some smaller airlines.
The Unite union said the 318 workers, 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 and weeks because of similar rows over pay. Swissport workers at Stansted are voting today on possible industrial action, while a ballot will be held for Manchester staff on Monday. 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."
Swissport workers are calling for a one-year deal in excess of 5 per cent - the current level of RPI. It also wants sick pay to be reinstated after the company removed it for the first three days of absence due to illness, including industrial injury.
Travellers departing from Stansted are already facing disruptions as workers who screen luggage prepare to strike after rejecting a 1.5 per cent pay offer.
The workers, employed by Airfield Services, are demanding a 5 per cent pay offer to keep pace with inflation.
The GMB union complained that the workers were due a pay rise last January but their employers had been “dragging their feet”.
The strike involves more than 30 staff who screen baggage after they leave check-in desks on the way to the hold of aircraft.
GMB official Gary Pearce said: “These workers are doing one of the most vital jobs in the airport but are among the lowest paid.”
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we are all struggling with the rate of inflation, but it is something that you have to get on with, but no these greedy unions, threaten hard working peoples holidays, that they have worked for, i dont know how these people who strike can sleep at night!!!
ruth, leicester, uk
Give them the 5% or whatever it is they want, then make 5% of the staff redundant. Problem solved. I'm fed up of these dam unions trying to justify their own existence by insisting on a strike for everything.
Finlay, Harrow, UK
I didn't get a pay rise this year, probably won't next year, saved hard for this holiday and will likely lose it to satisfy the ego of a union leader. Thanks!
This pathetic outdated action, timed to impact normal people, does nothing but make people hate the unions more... a complete own goal.
Gary, Cheshire,
My family were planning to go to Ireland for my Grandmother's 80th birthday on exactly the days when the striking will take place. Now we may have to cancel and disappoint an elderly lady! Thanks a lot!
Kiera, Essex,
Having travelled on business several times this year I cannot believe the baggage handlers actually think they deserve a pay rise. They are consitently underperforming offering bad service and waits at Manchester of up to an hour for baggage collection, pay cut more like!!!
Kevin, Manchester,
I work for local government & our pay deal was less than this lot are demanding or even being offered. Unite seems to forget that having 3% of something is better than 3% of nothing; if the company goes under or is forced to make redundancies, they won't have a job anyway...
Dave, London,
Good news for the environment! As the carrot called common sense isn't working, batons like fuel rises and strikes will have to do the job. Flying is bad for the planet, for me and for you. Sorry for your holidays, the UK is a marvellous country, you could start by exploring its beauty.
Esther Phillips, Leatherhead,
the result of such a bad dicision was the closure of aviance (the oldest g.a.in gatwick) and the prospect of more than 100 Redundancies in servisair ,jobs were lost, of hardworking english families, because the price of menzies operation is minimun, swisport is just trying to survive a bad decison
rui almeida, crawley, uk
allowing menzies aviation to be the 4th ground agent in gatwick was a mistake that CAA was not made responsable for ,menzies employes young workers in there majority from the eastern block and has taken away all the working condiction that all workers in gatwick had enjoyed for so many years
rui almeida, crawley, uk
i also would like to thank to the "fair" people who's coments on the times have been so supportive to our cause the country is on it's last moments of stability workers are being made redundant ,are losing condictions and unions do to little
thats how secure my job is
rui almeida, crawley, uk
my 2 children & i are due to travel to greece for a much needed holiday on the 25th august booked obviously before we were aware of any strike threats. these people should be grateful for 3% i have no pay increase this year and am grateful that i still have a job !
bev fairbrother, chesterfield, england
The logically conclusion to the arguments put forward by those supporting the strike action at airports over the Bank Holiday is that we should all blackmail our fellow citizens whenever we has a grievance.
Brian Christley, Abergele, UK
How about us poor people who also only got 3 per cent and scraped and saved to have our summer holiday,did we strike,NO.This is only another union trying to re-live the old days. I am due to travel on my holiday on the 25th, my holiday is ruined..I hope the airports remove Swissports contract
Mark, Rugby, England
I wonder if the Directors and Chairman of the airlines only received 3%?
Mike, Sole Street, England
Mr Brown - this country is falling apart, what are you going to do?
Oh, sorry, forgot you are on holiday
Mike, Sole Street, England
Lets have a general strike and force a general election
Mike, Sole Street, England
I hope the whole country goes on strike. Quick end to Labopur. Lets get the Tories in to make the necessary changes. Tax the wealthy at 90% above £100,000 a year, lock up and throw away the key for criminals, withdraw from the EU and make Scatland & Wales independent of England. Great stuff.
Cleutus, Barnsley, uk
I'm due to travel from Stansted on Monday. So now I've booked another flight on the Tuesday just in case. I HAVE to get to my destination by Wednesday which is when I'm booked to return. A 3% pay rise was good enough for me this year!
Rebecca, Fareham,
J Butcher, Graeme and the rest are right. Why do the airlines and the public passively accept this? Have they no backbone? If people don't want to work, that's their decision. The answer is to bring in workers from Eastern Europe. End of problem.
Peter Cressall, La Lucila, Argentina
I don't agree with the strike as it will cause caos. But of those complaining,who got a 1.5% payrise? It's time for the share holders to take a hit for a change!!
Zoe , kent,
If they were decent poeple then they would go into talks and discussion, instead yet again just to get the union boss climbing up his ladder ! the showface of our country, ie our airports get disrupted, costing businesses, disuading visitors and worse, hitting innocent hard pressed families.!
Mrs Riddon, Manchester, lancs.
Agree with the general jist of these comments-the strikes are unreasonable. The unions are living in the past. Frankly, workers can expect no sympathy for chosing to strike when they are. If unions had their way, Britain would be back in the dark ages. Workers need to value the job they have.
David, Edinburgh,
Being held to ransom by the unions, esp' in the public sector, will only worsen as they retake control of ('Old') Labour. With a bit of luck a year or two more of hopeless Brown and his kindergarten cabinet will consign Labour to another 10+ years in the electoral wilderness.
David, London,
The blatant targetting of holiday traffic and their public rhetoric prove that these trade unions are holding the companies to ransom, and have no interest in the misery they cause, the health of their industry, or good industrial relations.
Mike, Woodbridge,
BAA should get rid of Swissport & take on a none union company, plenty of people around to fill vacancies.
J Butcher, Leeds, UK
This is bl**dy ridiculous and getting beyond the pale now. We about to head into a recession, most of the country got a payrise below inflation, most of us are grateful we still have a job. Put up or sod off but whatever you do stop disrupting and upsetting other peoples lives with your selfishness.
Sarah, MK, UK
This is what you get when you have a Government which tells people inflation is running at around 4%, measured on a spurious basis (CPI) that does not even reflect rising the rising costs people face today such as energy and utilities. Mass discontent will follow.
Simon Booker, surrey, uk
This is very annoying. These strikers waste peoples time, ruin holidays and business plans. If they want more money earn it in other ways. I spent 1 day at Brussels airport this week when they were striking and it looks as if i got to sit through another......
James , Leicester, UK
Fire them and give their jobs to imigrant workers who appreciate the value of actually having a job rather than complain about not getting paid top whack for a, lets face it, completely unskilled job that they rarely do right anyway. We should be ashamed of our country with people like this.
graeme, london, england
We all have problems and are tightening our belt. What gives these people the right to invconvience others who having holidays or doing business. They cost everyone a fortune in a time where customer service wins business and gurarantees a future, not inconviencing customers. Sack the lot.!
phil, Headley, UK
Am getting a bit sick of all this union intervention - if i went on strike i'd lose my job. They may be disputing pay, but what about the poor sods who've saved for holidays which are going to be ruined? They could always get a different job...
Andy, Alton, UK
It is sickening to see these people causing disruption like this. As a regular traveller from these airports on business, I rarely travel with hold luggage because i see how badly the ground staff treat people's bags. In light of the inflation issues we face, they can sing for it, frankly.
chris, stirling, UK
With petrol tanker drivers, now tube staff, airline workers & public sector likely to follow we are headed for a 'Winter of Discontent'.
The BoE will have to raise interest rates or witness a sterling crisis as the Govt embark on unfettered borrowing. No sensible person will want to hold sterling!!
Steve Ball, Denbury, UK
Don't you people learn? Don't fly over bank holidays! Stay at home then the airport / airline staff can strike all they want. Is the airport chaos in this country really worth it?
Harry, London, UK
This made me laugh, Steve Turner says: "...insult to professional, hard working men and women"
It doesn't strike me as professional to see people work off the job at the worst possible time for their company and customers. I would describe them as "millitant, irresponsible and uncompromising"
Phil, Epsom, England
Its inflation Darling!! And it is out of the bag!!
barry smith, birmingham, uk