Strike threatens to cause major Christmas travel disruption

Local travellers are set to be thrown into chaos this Christmas as baggage handlers and cargo crew have announced plans to strike at Belfast International and Belfast City Airports.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Dec 2016, 15:00 BST
Updated 18th Dec 2016, 13:14 BST

More than 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew at a number of airports across the UK will strike for 48 hours just before Christmas in a long-running pay dispute.

Members of Unite employed by Swissport will walk out on Friday, December 23 and Saturday, December 24 at Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds/Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and Stansted.

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Unite’s Oliver Richardson said: “We appreciate that this is a very busy time of year at the UK’s airports and that’s why we are calling for the company to engage in constructive talks under the auspices of Acas to resolve this dispute. Unite’s door is open 24/7 for such talks.

“Our members are only taking this industrial action as a last resort in a bid to reach a fair settlement - our members have not had a pay rise since 2014.”

Unite members voted by 62.5% to reject a 4.65% three year pay deal for 2015-2017, which the union said barely kept pace with inflation.

The staff were also said to be angry that detrimental changes to terms and conditions have been linked to the pay deal. The changes include freezing overtime payments for the foreseeable future and restructuring pay.

Related topics:UniteEdinburghGlasgowHeathrowBradfordLeeds