British Airways Heathrow staff vote to go on strike after rejecting 10% pay offer

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Fat cat' union barons today moved a step closer towards derailing the summer holiday hopes of thousands of families after hundreds of British Airways staff at Heathrow voted to go on strike in a dispute that could lead to even more airport chaos. 

It is the latest pay dispute threatening to disrupt Britain as workers, the majority of them in the public sector, demand pay rises in line with surging 9.1% inflation caused by the Government's massive Covid bailouts and Putin's war in Ukraine.

The earliest date the strikes could happen is early July, but the unions have not announced a timescale, possibly in the hopes of pressuring BA bosses to cave in.

Militant GMB and Unite unions have blamed 'pig-headed' aviation bosses for the dispute by imposing mass layoffs during the pandemic, while airlines were struggling.

BA said that the unions had rejected a 10% pay offer in favour of walkouts as early as next month, potentially during the school holidays. However, union barons claim the airline's offer was a one-time 'bonus' and its members want a full-time raise.

Heathrow has been mired in chaos since March as bosses struggle to hire enough staff amid widespread labour shortages across the UK in the wake of Covid lockdowns and financial support packages. It has failed to manage a 'baggage crisis' which has seen huge numbers of luggage pile up outside Terminal 2. Flyers who have lost their luggage have complained on social media that they have been forced to wait a week to be reunited with their bags.

The vote raises fears of a 'summer of discontent' that could see Heathrow including check-in staff potentially join teachers, NHS staff and civil servants on the picket lines as they demand more pay amid surging inflation. It comes as Mick Lynch's RMT union this week unleashes a series of mass walkouts that have brought the UK's rail network to a standstill.

Downing Street has said that strikes by BA workers would add to the 'misery' passengers are already suffering at airports.

A No 10 spokesman added: 'This is obviously a matter for British Airways and the unions and we would strongly encourage both to come together to find a settlement. We don't want to see any further disruption for passengers and strike action would only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports.

'DfT (Department for Transport) will obviously work closely to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place and we expect BA to put in place contingency measures to ensure that as little disruption is caused, and that where there is disruption that passengers can be refunded'.

Downing Street has previously argued it would be 'reckless' to raise public sector pay in line with inflation, as ministers defended reinstating the triple pensions lock while arguing in favour of wage restraint elsewhere.  

GMB is headed-up by Gary Smith, a long-term Scottish trade unionist and supporter of Keir Starmer's Labour leadership, who was elected as General Secretary in June last year. His salary and pay deal has not yet been made public, due to him only taking up position in June last year, but is believed to be six-figures. 

GMB's National Officer Nadine Houghton, who ran as a Labour candidate in 2019, 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% bonus which other colleagues have been paid. What did BA think was going to happen? 

'It'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 bid.'

Unite officer Russ Ball said: 'The problems British Airways is facing are entirely of its own making. 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 10% 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. 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.'

In a statement, BA said it is 'extremely disappointed' that the unions 'have chosen to take this course of action' and vowed to 'work together to find a solution'. 

Travel chiefs called the news 'another terrible blow to the industry and customers' that will 'add to the already uncertain atmosphere of flight cancellations'. 

Calling it 'the last thing that airports need after two years of restrictions', travel guru Paul Charles told MailOnline: 'The pressure is on both sides here, BA and the unions, to get round the table and hammer out a compromise so that families can enjoy a carefree summer holiday.

'Customers are already hugely worried and uncertain about flying at the moment. They've seen huge numbers of flights cancelled and delayed, they will now be on the edge of their seats over this strike action. This has come at a terrible time for everyone, for the airports that need a good summer, as well as people who now face a third summer of disruption.'

Ministers fear Britain could face a summer of strikes as unions flex their muscles in pursuit of inflation-busting pay rises.

The National Education Union yesterday warned that schools could be next in line for strike action unless ministers stump up 'inflation-plus pay increases for all teachers'. Unions representing doctors, nurses, civil servants and postal workers are also threatening industrial action over pay. Some have even demanded settlements 5% above inflation - which yesterday hit 9.1%.

It comes as the Government plots to rush forward new laws today which end the ban on using agency workers to break strikes.

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