Some 1,400 security guards will strike until April 9, in full Easter vacation, at London’s Heathrow airport, main hub in the United Kingdom, after wage talks between management and the Unite union broke down.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
Ten days of strike for 1,400 security officers at Heathrow airport who control hand luggage. ” Our members are forced to come to this, assures Wayne King, who heads the branch of the union Unite, at the origin of the strike. We are calling for a 13.9% increase to take inflation into account; however, management does not want to go beyond 10%, which amounts to wage cuts. However, these officers are on the front line in protecting the airport against terrorism. »
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The union denounces in comparison “ the remuneration of the managing director John Holland-Kaye “which passed” between 2020 and 2021 from 800,000 pounds to 1.5 million pounds “while the real salary of a security guard” who does endless shifts is 30,000 pounds per year, i.e. one 24% decline in real terms since 2017 “.
Only one terminal concerned
” We know that the majority of our employees do not support the strike says the airport statement, which points out that Unite has again refused an improved offer when the PCS union approved it “.
The strike affects only one of the airport’s four terminals but the period includes the Easter weekend, a busy time for travel. But John Holland-Kaye, director of Heathrow, interviewed by Sky News, wants to be reassuring. “ Terminals 2, 3 and 4 operate normally, he points out. We have asked British Airways to cancel around thirteen departures a day to reduce demand. They did it earlier in the week so people could reorganize; but other than that everything is working normally. »
This Friday, 70 flights were canceled (because of the strike but also because of the weather conditions). Heathrow has hired a thousand temporary workers to limit disruption.
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