Heathrow ground-handler strike threatens pre-Christmas disruption
Hundreds of ground handlers employed by Menzies Aviation at London Heathrow will go on strike for three days in mid-December in a dispute over pay, threatening to disrupt flights during the busy end-of-year holiday travel period.
The Unite union, which represents the workers, says that 350 Menzies ground handlers plan to take strike action for a 72h period from 04:00 local time on 16 December.
The union claims this will lead to delays and cancellations to flights departing from Heathrow Terminals 2, 3 and 4, and will particularly affect services operated by Air Canada, American Airlines, Swiss, TAP Portugal, Austrian, Qantas, EgyptAir, Aer Lingus and Finnair.
However, Menzies says it expects the impact to be "minimal" if the strike goes ahead, but is hopeful a resolution can be reached before 16 December.
"The previous strike, which involved about 250 of our 1,500 ground-handling workforce at Heathrow, had minimal impact on our operations with no flight cancellations attributable to Menzies and 97% of flights departing on time," says Menzies Aviation executive vice-president Europe Miguel Gomez Sjunnesson.
He adds: "We remain committed to seeking a resolution on the pay talks in our ground-handling operations so our employees can receive their increase now, and hope to be able to reach an agreement which is workable for both the business and our employees during our meeting with unions on Tuesday."
Heathrow says it is "aware" of the planned industrial action, adding: "We encourage airport partners who would be affected to continue with their contingency planning, and we will support them to minimise the impact on passengers, should the strike go ahead. "The airport said last month that it was ready for what it expects will be the busiest Christmas travel period for three years. Heathrow has not introduced the capacity cap it had in place during the summer, and says it has been "working with airports and ground handlers to prepare for the Christmas peak".
The dispute is over a below-inflation pay increase offer which Unite says amounts to a real terms pay cut. It claims the offer is at odds with a 9.5% pay rise offered by Menzies to its cargo workers.
"Heathrow passengers are facing disruption, delays and potentially cancellations in the lead-up to Christmas, but this dispute is entirely of Menzies' own making. The company has offered a fair pay rise to one group of workers but not to its ground handlers," says Unite regional officer Kevin Hall. "Menzies needs to stop prevaricating and making excuses. Instead, return to negotiations and make our workers a pay offer which meets their expectations."