Airport strikes may be averted

Hopes
are rising of averting air strikes that would disrupt the travel plans of
millions of holidaymakers over the summer.

Baggage
handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow and Gatwick had voted to take action
after rejecting a 2.5 per cent pay offer. Talks between the services group
Aviance and three trade unions broke down two weeks ago.

But
now one of the unions involved – the GMB – has said it is willing to meet
again.

A
union spokesman said: "If Aviance has a sensible proposal to make, then we
will be pleased to hear it. We would also be prepared to postpone our strike
action if we feel the company has a genuine new offer to make."

Check-in
staff currently earn an average of £12,000 a year, and baggage handlers
£16,000.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Airlines
that could be affected by strike action include British Midlands, Iberia, Air
India, Easyjet, JAL Japan and Air Seychelles.

By Mike Berry