Security staff at London Heathrow airport are set to go on strike this summer as Unite demands an inflation busting 12% pay rise for its staff, despite inflation falling below 10%.
The strikes have been timed to cause maximum disruption to holidaymakers during the summer holidays with August alone set to see up to 10,000 flights affected.
According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, 42,600 flights are scheduled to depart from, London Heathrow between the 24th June and 27th August with 20,162 of those set to depart on actual strike days which total 21.
Heathrow Airport says it already has contingency plans with their spokesperson adding “Unite has already tried and failed to disrupt the airport with unnecessary strikes on some of our busiest days and we continue to build our plans to protect journeys during any future action.
“The simple fact remains that the majority of colleagues do not support Unite’s strikes. There is a two-year inflation-beating pay rise ready for colleagues, if only Unite would allow them to have a say”.
Unite represents some staff in Terminals 3 and 5 and its members are the only ones to have rejected an 10.1% pay offer which other staff have accepted.
Heathrow says it will continue to talk to Unite.
