Passengers scheduled to fly with some of the world's leading airlines face added misery because of a planned walkout by refuelling teams at Heathrow Airport. The Unite union has warned of delays later this week with workers striking in a row over pay.
The action is planned by Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) staff and is expected to bring disruption for thousands of passengers. The three-day walkout will begin at 5am on Thursday and end at 04:59 on Sunday, July 24.
Unions claimed workers have not received a pay rise for three years, during which time they have seen their incomes fall by 15.5 per cent in real terms. AFS had made an offer of a 10 per cent increase but this was rejected by members “as it did not meet their expectations.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “AFS is wholly owned by incredibly wealthy energy companies who are entirely able to provide our members with a decent pay increase. This is yet another example of energy companies boosting profits at the expense of workers.
“Unite will be providing its members at AFS with its unstinting support until the company makes a pay offer which meets members’ expectations and this dispute is resolved.”
Unite regional officer Kevin Hall added: “The strike action will cause severe disruption and delays at Heathrow but this dispute is entirely of AFS’s own making. It initially refused to enter into negotiations and only belatedly made an offer which workers judged entirely unacceptable.
“Even at the 11th hour, strike action could be avoided if AFS made a substantially improved offer."
AFS provides fuelling services to more than 70 airlines at the airport including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, United, SAS, Air France, Emirates, Delta, JAL, KLM and Singapore Airlines. A Heathrow spokesperson said: "We are aware of proposed industrial action from Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) colleagues at Heathrow, and we are in discussions with our airline partners on what contingency plans they can implement, including using other fuel suppliers already operating at the airport."
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