Travel turmoil as airport staff threaten strike in Britain

THE travel plans of thousands of Irish air passengers intending to fly to Britain over the coming weeks have been thrown into doubt as workers threaten to close down the airports there through strikes.

Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports would all close if the workers, members of the Unite trade union, press ahead with their protest against the British Airport Authority over pay.

The union’s officials are to meet on Monday to decide when to press ahead with industrial action as well as the form that action will take.

That means that, with the union prepared to give airport authorities one week’s notice of strike action, disruption is unlikely to start before August 23.

Travellers have been offered a glimmer of hope after British conciliation service Acas said it was arranging a meeting between BAA and the workers’ union Unite.

The members at the heart of the dispute constitute only a small part of the British aviation industry. However their number include firefighters and security staff, officials without which the airports cannot operate.

“Last year BAA’s employees accepted a pay-freeze to help the company because they understood the difficult financial operating environment within civil aviation,” said Unite national officer Brian Boyd.

“A pay offer of 1% plus the withdrawal of two payments worth over £1,000 (€1,220) is simply confrontational. BAA chief executive Colin Matthews recently hailed BAA’s financial performance and passenger numbers at Heathrow reached a record high in July.

“BAA has constantly ignored the contribution its employees make to the ongoing success of the business. Unite members have delivered a strong message that they deserve more.”

However, BAA has said the offer is a fair proposal after a year in which it has seen a decline in passengers due to the impacts of recession and volcanic ash.

Some analysts have suggested that Unite may target Britain’s August bank holiday weekend starting on August 28, but the union’s leaders have refused to confirm that.