Unite plans spring strike 'offensive' at London Heathrow

The Unite staff union   representing workers employed by London Heathrow's operating company, HAL, has announced a fresh series of strikes in the coming weeks in response to what it termed “a bitter dispute” following the company’s decision “to fire and rehire its entire workforce, slashing their pay and reducing their conditions.”

Targeted strike action will begin on Friday 2 April and a total of 41 strikes over a 23 day period is planned with the final strike scheduled for Sunday 25 April. It will involve engineering, airside operations, landside operations, fire service, campus security and central terminal operations, the union   said.

Each sector will be taking seven days of strike action. During the strike period at least one of the sectors will be on strike on most days.

Asked whether the planned industrial action would affect air cargo handling operations at the airport specifically if it went ahead, a spokesperson for Unite told Lloyd's Loading List:

“Yes it will have a massive effect. The campus security guards are responsible for all transport going on and off the airport. So when they strike it has a massive effect.”

The dispute has already seen workers stage nine days of strike, the most recent on Friday, 12 March.

“These strike days are avoidable, yet Heathrow is not listening. HAL railroaded these pay cuts through at a staggering speed, leaving thousands of workers on less pay just before Christmas. But while Unite put forward clear propos als in February to resolve the dispute, the company has yet to give any kind of formal response,” Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said.

He added: “There is a fortnight before Unite’s spring strike offensive begins and HAL management could still resolve this dispute if it has the will to do so.”

Contacted by Lloyd's Loading List to comment on the strike threat in April, a  spokesperson for Heathrow Airport Ltd said: “Every frontline colleague has accepted the new offer which pays above the market rate and London Living wage. Nobody has been fired and re-hired and indeed 48% saw no change or experienced a pay increase. In addition, we have also launched a business recovery incentive payment to all colleagues which offers a renumeration reward if the airport has recovered sufficiently in two years’ time.

“Despite losses of over £2 billion since the start of the pandemic, our approach has protected jobs and avoided huge swathes of compulsory redundancies. These strikes unnecessarily threaten further damage to the business, but nevertheless, we have activated extensive contingency plans which will keep the airport open and operating safely over strike days.”

Earlier this year, Unite members employed in BA's cargo division at London Heathrow reached a deal with management to settle a pay and conditions dispute, bringing strike action to an end.