Pre-Christmas travelers using Heathrow Airport later this month face disruption after baggage handlers voted to go on strike from December 16.
The 72-hour strike action will affect flights operated by 10 major airlines from Terminals 2, 3 and 4 at Heathrow.
The dispute revolves around a salary offer for freight workers, but it has not been extended to baggage handlers.
The Unite union said groundhandling workers at Menzies Aviation were not given a “fair” salary offer.
“Menzies has made a fair wage offer to a group of its workers but is unwilling to make a similar offer to its groundhandlers,” said Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary.
Menzies was contacted for comment.
- Why are so many workers on strike?
Airlines expected to be affected by the three-day strike include Air Canada, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Air Portugal, Austrian Airlines, Qantas, Egypt Air, Aer Lingus and Finnair.
The dispute concerns 350 workers employed by Menzies, who were offered a lower wage than freight workers employed by the Heathrow company less than half a mile away.
Cargo workers have been offered a 9.5% wage increase retroactive to May 2022 and a further 1% from January 2023, the union said.
“Menzies ground handlers have been offered a flat rate increase that amounts to a real pay cut for the entire workforce at a time when real inflation (RPI) currently stands at 14.2%,” the union added.
The action follows a similar row in November, when passengers at the airport were plagued by a three-day strike.
The strike would have been more widespread as twice as many groundhandlers wanted to go on strike last month, until rival transport handling company Dnata agreed to an improved wage offer for its 350 Heathrow workers.
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