More workers to join strike at Heathrow Airport

Traffic disruption expected to worsen
2023-05-30
/
/ New Delhi
Members of Unite employed as security officers by Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) at Terminal 3 voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action against a pay dispute, which is set to escalate after around 600 more security officers voted to strike.
Rate this post

Following the vote to strike by 600 more security workers, the salary issue at Heathrow Airport is certain to worsen. According to a press statement, the majority of Unite security personnel employed by Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) at Terminal 3 voted in favour of taking strike action.

The statement says that a number of strikes by the 1,400 Unite members working as security officers at Terminal 5 and Campus Security have been underway lately. With a third and final day of action on Saturday, they are currently on the second day of the most recent strike.

Unite-general-secretary-Sharon-Graham

Sharon Graham

“Escalating strike action will inevitably cause disruption, delays and cancellations across Heathrow. This widening dispute is a direct result of Heathrow airport’s dismissive attitude to its workers. They have seriously misjudged the anger of the workers,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham says.

“They have had every opportunity to make our members a fair pay offer but have chosen not to. It is now time for them to come back to the negotiating table and deal with this issue before further escalation occurs. Strike action is now set to escalate throughout the summer and Unite will leave no stone unturned in support for our members involved in the dispute,” she adds.

“Our focus is on giving passengers the excellent service they expect at Heathrow and our colleagues the hard-earned pay rise they deserve. We have kept the airport operating over the last 17 days of strike action, and passengers can have confidence that we will continue to protect their journeys over the summer. Over the coming days, we will be updating our plans and activating a reserve pool of colleagues to provide additional security capacity,” says a Heathrow spokesperson.

“The summer getaway is one of the best times of the year at Heathrow and no one should be worried about the threat of unnecessary strikes rumbling on in the background. There is an inflation-beating deal on the table for this year and next and Unite should let colleagues vote on it. Our door remains open to discuss resolving this issue,” he adds.

Leave a Reply

Get Magazine