British Airways staff plan a strike action
Families face a holiday ‘nightmare’ as hard-Left union threatens Heathrow strike during February half-term
Hundreds of staff at Heathrow Airport are threatening to walk off the jobRefuelling staff and baggage handlers are walking out from February 11 over payUnite the union wants retrospective pay rises for their members at the airline
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Families face a holiday ‘nightmare’ after staff at Heathrow Airport threatened to strike during next month’s school half-term.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that hundreds of refuelling and baggage handlers have voted to walk out for three days from Friday, February 11, in a dispute over pay.
The decision is a blow to families who have raced to book last-minute holidays abroad after two years of Covid misery. It comes as new EU rules, based on passengers’ vaccination or recovery status rather than their country of origin, are set to come into effect – making it easier for Britons to travel.
British Airways staff are planning to go on strike threatening half-term holidays, it is claimed
British Airways staff at Heathrow Airport are threatening to go on strike for more money
Heathrow workers are employed by Menzies Aviation who provide baggage handling services
The Heathrow workers are employed by Menzies Aviation, which is among the firms responsible for refuelling British Airways aircraft at Heathrow. It also provides baggage handling services for several major carriers including American Airlines, Lufthansa, Icelandair, Qantas and Aer Lingus.
Menzies is likely to struggle to find replacement staff to fill the gap because of extensive security vetting process for airport employees to combat terrorism. There may also be higher than normal absences due to employees catching Covid or having to self-isolate.
The MoS first revealed the strike threat earlier this month. More than half the 400 staff belonging to the hard-Left Unite union voted in favour.
Sources said long-haul flights were more likely to be affected because incoming aircraft would need to be fully refuelled before returning to the skies.
Unite wants retrospective pay rises for 2020 and 2021. It argues that rivals, including Swissport and Cobalt, agreed similar pay deals with their workers.
The union has previously accused Menzies of ‘firing and rehiring’ 810 workers during the pandemic – laying off employees and hiring them again on worse terms.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Menzies cynically used the cover of the pandemic to fire and rehire its workers to boost long-term profits and it is now refusing to even consider a pay rise.
Unite wants retrospective pay rises for 2020 and 2021. It argues that rivals, including Swissport and Cobalt, agreed similar pay deals with their workers
‘Given the appalling treatment Menzies workers have received from their employer, it is little surprise that they felt they had no option but to take strike action.’
Unite regional officer Kevin Hall added: ‘The strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption and delays throughout Heathrow, but it is taken as a last resort and is entirely of Menzies’s own making.’
Last night, Oli Dannatt, boss of online travel firm Ski Yodl and Sir Richard Branson’s former ski instructor, said: ‘These strikes could be another nightmare for families who have had to deal with so many changing travel restrictions in recent months.’
Menzies said only a relatively small proportion of its Heathrow workers had decided to strike. It employs more than 1,200 staff at the airport. More than 200 of the 400 Unite members in Menzies’s workforce opted to strike, but it is unclear how many will decide to walk out next month.
Last night, a Menzies spokesman said it was ‘very disappointed’ at the vote but insisted that it was ‘confident that we will continue to provide the required services’.
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said: ‘We are aware of an industrial action ballot for Menzies employees who support airlines operating out of Heathrow.
‘It would not be appropriate for us to comment on the ongoing discussions they are having with their employer.
‘As always, we remain in constant dialogue with all partners who operate at Heathrow and will continue to do everything we can to ensure that passengers can enjoy a safe and reliable journey.’
