Heathrow Airport's British Airways crew have voted in favour of going on strike amid rows over pay, it has been announced by the GMB and Unite Unions. Members of the airline based at Heathrow were balloted by the GMB trade union Thursday morning, June 23.
The union announced that 95 per cent of its workers had voted in favour of strike action this summer, which is likely to be held during the height of the summer holidays.
BA workers at Heathrow who are members of the Unite union have been balloted too, separately. Results from this were expected on Monday. Workers, including check-in staff, will now decide on strike dates, the Mirror reports.
READ MORE: Tourists heading to Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Belgium warned of disruption amid strikes
It comes after a number of staff at various airlines have also voted for strike action, including Easyjet and Ryanair, leading officials to warn the public that a 'summer of travel chaos' is to be expected.
Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said: “With grim predictability, holidaymakers face massive disruption thanks to the pig-headedness of British Airways. BA have tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10 per cent one-off bonus payment, but this doesn’t cut the mustard.
"Our members need to be reinstated the 10 per cent they had stolen from them last year with full back pay and the 10 per cent bonus which other colleagues have been paid."
She added: “GMB members at Heathrow have suffered untold abuse as they deal with the travel chaos caused by staff shortages and IT failures. At the same time, they’ve had their pay slashed during BA’s callous fire and rehire policy.
"What did BA think was going to happen? t’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed. Do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud.”
Meanwhile, Unite officer Russ Ball said the problems British Airways is facing are entirely of its own making, adding: "It brutally cut jobs and pay during the pandemic even though the Government was paying them to save jobs.
“In the case of this dispute, they have insulted this workforce, slashing pay by 10per cent only to restore it to managers but not to our members. BA is treating its loyal workforce as second class citizens and they will not put up with it a moment longer."
He added: "Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption to BA’s services at Heathrow. The company has a short window of opportunity to reinstate our members’ pay before strikes are called. I urge BA not to squander that opportunity.”
Members of the GMB voted by 91 per cent in favour of industrial action while Unite said 94 per cent of its members backed action.
READ NEXT:
- Five men charged with murder in Brislington appear before court
- Thousands apply for Clean Air Zone grants and loans
- Oasis star Noel Gallagher booed by crowd at Bristol gig
- Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing fans excited as BBC Two duo share snapshot of new series
- Glastonbury fence defaced with Prince Andrew slur
