After two years of heavy travel restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic thousands of Brits have been jetting off on holiday so far this year. With the increase in demand many airports across the country have been experiencing huge staffing issues leading to cancelled flights and long delays.
Now many airport workers are claiming to have suffered hate-filled physical and/or verbal abuse during their shifts in the ongoing crisis. The GMB union conducted a poll of hundreds of its members including check-in staff, baggage handlers, security workers and cabin crew.
The poll has shown that two thirds of aviation workers say that the abuse they have received has had a detrimental impact on their mental health. Works have also described being spat at and suffering homophobic abuse from frustrated travellers during this time reports Wales Online.
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Other findings from the poll include:
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96 per cent of works have been reporting staff shortages where they work almost 90 per cent of them have said they experienced them daily,
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A whopping 85 per cent have said that the crisis in the aviation sector was going to get worse before it gets better,
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86 per cent of staff have said they are stating that they feel that the management have no plan to deal with the crisis,
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Also almost half of them say they are struggling to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads.
Nadine Houghton, who is the GMB national officer, said: “The results of this survey are devastating. Three quarters of aviation workers experiencing abuse is totally unacceptable. GMB members are doing their best as they deal with a crisis that is entirely of airlines’ own making. Mass staff shortages are making their jobs – and people’s holiday’s - impossible.
“Airlines need to listen to workers and pay a wage that means they can live through the cost of living crisis. Then maybe they’d have enough staff to get people away on their holidays without frustration and delays.”
Along with this hundreds of GMB members who work at Heathrow Airport as check in and ground staff have started voting on potential strike action. If the British Airways workers vote to take the strike action it would be during the summer holidays.
The ballot will close on June 23 and the result is expected on the same day. The workers are annoyed because a 10 percent pay cut that was imposed on them during the pandemic is yet to be reinstated, it is being alleged.
Despite that other BA workers have been given a 10 percent bonus and the check in staff have had nothing they have also claimed. Ms Houghton added: "Staff at Heathrow have been verbally and physically abused by angry passengers after British Airways’ staff shortages and IT failures nearly brought the airport to a standstill.
“Unrest is now starting to spread like wildfire to other groups of BA workers with many more now considering a vote to walk out."
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