TALKS AIM TO STOP STRIKES AT AIRPORTS
TALKS aimed at averting strikes by baggage handlers and other staff at 18 airports will be held at Acas next week. Officials from the Unite union and aviation services company Swissport will meet at the conciliation service on Tuesday.
More than 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew are due to strike for 48 hours just before Christmas in a longrunning pay dispute.
Members of Unite employed by Swissport will walk out on December 23 and 24 at Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds/Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and Stansted.
Cardiff Airport has stressed only a few members of staff are members of Unite and, therfore, services will be unaffected.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This is clearly a positive development. We are pleased that the company will sit down with us in an effort to resolve this dispute. We are confident that our members’ case is extremely strong, and that fairness will prevail.”
No talks have yet been arranged to try to head off a strike by British Airways cabin crew on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in a row over pay.
The airline said it was “appalled” at the decision by the Unite union and pledged to ensure its customers get to their destinations.
The row involves around 4,500 so-called mixed fleet cabin crew who joined BA since 2010.
Unite say they are on lower pay than other staff.
BA, which employs around 16,000 cabin crew, said in a statement: “We are appalled that Unite proposes to disrupt customers’ travel plans on such special days when so many families are trying to gather together or set off on well-deserved holidays. This calculated and heartless action is completely unnecessary and we are determined that it will fail.
“We will plan to ensure all our customers travel to their destinations so that their Christmas arrangements are not ruined.
“Meanwhile, we have also approached the conciliation service Acas to seek their assistance in reaching an outcome that would avoid any possibility of disruption.”
Mr McCluskey said: “Unite remains ready and willing to talk to BA at any time. This dispute can be sorted but the company needs to come to the table with a positive offer.”
Virgin pilots have not planned a fully fledged strike but will work “strictly to contract” with a removal of “goodwill” from December 23, their PPU union said.
Postal and rail workers are also planning industrial action in a Christmas of discontent.
A dispute between Southern Railway and train drivers has already brought a large portion of the travel network to a standstill this December.
Post Office workers will strike next week, including on Christmas Eve, after their union said an offer it made to resolve a row over jobs, pensions and closures was rejected.
Postal workers from the Communication Workers Union will strike for five days, including three days of walkouts by staff in Crown offices – larger branches typically in high streets.