British Airways strikes at Heathrow Airport
planned as workers vote for industrial action
Workers have voted to take industrial action at
London's busiest airport - with passengers warned of a 'summer of strikes'
By Tom
Burnett Content Editor
16:00, 23
JUN 2022UPDATED16:07, 23 JUN 2022
British
Airways passengers face a summer of disruption
Workers are
the UK's busiest airport have voted for industrial action. British Airways
workers at Heathrow Airport have voted for strike action to take place.
Members of
both the GMB and Unite trade unions have backed the action. Workers who were
balloted include check-in staff at the airport. Members of the GMB voted by 91%
in favour of industrial action while Unite said 94% of its members backed
action.
Holidaymakers
and other airline passengers using Heathrow Airport are now set to face travel
disruption over the coming weeks. The news comes as many people prepare for
summer holidays - with some travelling abroad for the first time since the
start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read More:
Will EasyJet workers strike this summer and how will it affect flights?
What dates
are British Airways strikes taking place at Heathrow Airport?
British Airways
workers are yet to decide on what dates the strike action will take place and
it is unclear at this stage how long strikes will continue for. Strike dates
will be announced in advance by the trade unions taking part in the industrial
action.
The strikes
are set to take place during the peak summer holiday period according to the
trade unions. The airport has already been subject to travel chaos in recent
weeks - with flights cancelled and luggage problems reported in recent weeks.
Why are
British Airways staff at Heathrow Airport going on strike?
Nadine
Houghton, GMB national officer, said: “With grim predictability, holidaymakers
face massive disruption thanks to the pig-headedness of British Airways. BA
have tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10%
one-off bonus payment, but this doesn’t cut the mustard.
“Our
members need to be reinstated the 10% they had stolen from them last year with
full back pay and the 10% bonus which other colleagues have been paid. GMB
members at Heathrow have suffered untold abuse as they deal with the travel
chaos caused by staff shortages and IT failures.
“At the
same time, they’ve had their pay slashed during BA’s callous fire and rehire
policy. What did BA think was going to happen?
“It’s not
too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts
reversed. Do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action
can be nipped in the bud.”
Unite
officer Russ Ball said: “The problems British Airways is facing are entirely of
its own making. It brutally cut jobs and pay during the pandemic even though
the Government was paying them to save jobs. In the case of this dispute, they
have insulted this workforce, slashing pay by 10% only to restore it to
managers but not to our members.
“BA is
treating its loyal workforce as second class citizens and they will not put up
with it a moment longer. Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption
to BA’s services at Heathrow
“The
company has a short window of opportunity to reinstate our members’ pay before
strikes are called. I urge BA not to squander that opportunity.”
How has
British Airways responded to news of the Heathrow Airport strikes?
A BA
statement said: “We’re extremely disappointed with the result and that the
unions have chosen to take this course of action. Despite the extremely
challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn, we made an offer of a 10%
payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.
“We are
fully committed to work together to find a solution, because to deliver for our
customers and rebuild our business we have to work as a team. We will of course
keep our customers updated about what this means for them as the situation
evolves.”
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