Baggage
handlers and check-in staff at airports across the UK have voted to strike in a
dispute over pay.
Members
of the T&G union working at 17 locations, including Heathrow, Edinburgh,
Glasgow and Liverpool, voted by four to one to reject a 2.5 per cent pay offer
from ground handling services company Aviance.
The
union said it was now up to Aviance management to come up with a new offer, or
face a series of strikes.
Brendan
Gold, the T&G national secretary for civil aviation, said: "Everyone
is aware that aviation is a tough market, and nobody is better placed to know
that than the baggage handlers and check-in staff.
“They
also know that the volume of their work is increasing as the industry gets
busier, and passenger numbers break record levels,” he said. "They know a
bad deal when they see one, which is why we urge Aviance to listen to their
workforce and act to improve the deal on offer, and avoid a damaging dispute.”
The
Department of Transport said it was a matter for the two sides to negotiate.
Aviance
operations are at the following airports: Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham,
Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Jersey, Leeds
Bradford, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Stansted, Southampton and Teesside.
