Manchester
Airport bosses have slammed the TGWU for rejecting their final offer of a 10
per cent pay increase and then threatening strike action.
A
spokesman for the airport said the union turned down a management offer that
increased pay by 10 per cent in return for higher productivity on the company’s
new shift rosters for security staff. Union members staged a series of strikes
this year in protest at plans to cut security jobs, but the airport said union
roster proposals are unworkable and do not improve productivity.
Airport
management said contingency plans were in place for any renewed strike action.
David
Teale, managing director of Manchester Airport Aviation Services, said:
"We are bitterly disappointed that the union has rejected our offer which
combines a fair pay increase with higher productivity.
"The
union has spent the whole of the consultation process organising strikes
instead of working to find a negotiated settlement. The strikes have not
brought the airport to a halt, but have cost the union’s members a lot of money.
"Now
on Day 84 of the consultation period, the union calls for arbitration. Why did
it not do this earlier in the dispute – in fact, before it called for strike
action?
"It
appears to be using arbitration, which could take up to six months, as a
delaying tactic to stop us making the roster changes. In order to ensure that
we can provide an adequate level and quality of service for our airlines and
passengers, we must implement the rosters next month."
The
management has rejected the union’s request for arbitration and says the pay
offer is final.
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