Birmingham Airport could be the latest to be hit by strikes this summer if workers who've faced real-term pay cuts for two years walk out.
The West Midlands travel hub is facing potential chaos if 100 security officers, terminal technicians and aircraft refuelers employed by Menzies go ahead with plans to walk out.
The workers are due to be balloted over pay, with the majority of those surveyed being security officers who have "unsociable" shift patterns, earning around £11.50, according to Unite.
The union says that the employees have faced two years of real-term cuts and that if they do not get a significant pay rise, recruitment and retention issues at the airport will worsen.
Some security officers at Birmingham Airport received a 2.8% pay rise. The real rate of inflation was 13.8% during that time period, meaning some endured a 11% pay cut.
Unite says those same workers have been offered a 7.75% pay rise this year, as well as a one off £850 payment. This is less than the current 8.7% rise to the consumer price index, which measures the cost of a select basket of goods.
The Menzies workers, who drive tankers and refuel over three quarters of planes at the airport, have rejected a 9% pay offer, which came after a 6% rise last year.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Both Birmingham airport and Menzies can afford to give their workers a fair pay rise and that is exactly what needs to happen.
"Unite workers at Birmingham airport are fed up with pay cuts, especially when they know both companies have combined profits of more than £80 million."
The ballot for strike action ends on June 29, with Menzies workers having until 3 July to vote. The strikes could fall anytime from the middle of July onwards, as workers need to give their employer seven days' notice before they walk out.
A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport to TTG: "A substantial majority of our workforce has already had a significant pay rise having accepted the company’s offer. In the event strike action does take place, we are confident the impact will be limited, and we do not anticipate any cancellations."
News of the ballot at Birmingham Airport comes in the same week that security guards at London's Heathrow Airport postponed a 31-day strike after receiving an improved pay offer.
Staff were set to strike from 24 June, causing significant disruption at the travel hub as the busy summer season really got going.
The first two days of the strike have now been called off so that union members have time to vote on the latest pay deal.
The remaining 29 days of strikes will still go ahead if the pay offer is rejected, meaning more than 2,000 members of the Unite union will take part in walkouts at Europe's busiest airport.
The exact dates would now be:
- June 28, 29 and 30
- July 14 to 16, 21 to 24, and 28 to 31
- August 4 to 7, 11 to 14, 18 to 20 and 24 to 27
If the pay deal is rejected, security officers at Terminal 3 - the base for many international carriers including American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic - will join their colleagues from ' main hub at Terminal 5.
Birmingham Airport has been contacted for additional comment.
