Brit fans face Heathrow chaos on eve of World Cup

● Hundreds of workers at London’s Heathrow airport will walk out in the run-up to the Soccer World Cup this month over demands for better pay, a British union said.

Unite said on Friday that 700 workers involved in ground handling, airside transport and cargo, and employed by airport services companies Dnata and Menzies Aviation, will strike for three days from November 18.

The World Cup in Qatar starts on November 20 and runs to December 18.

“Strike action will inevitably cause disruption, delays and cancellations to flights throughout Heathrow, with travellers to the World Cup particularly affected,” Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said.

Qatar Airways, which has scheduled an additional 10 flights a week during the World Cup, will be particularly affected.

Other airlines including Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Cathay-Pacific and Emirates will also be hit, Unite said.

Dnata said it was implementing contingency plans to minimise disruption and it was committed to reaching a “mutually acceptable agreement for all parties”.

“The increase in salary suggested by Unite is irresponsible and would undoubtedly impact our business’s ability to operate in the best interest of our workforce in the long term,” it said.

Menzies said it was willing to continue pay discussions.

Heathrow said it was in talks with its airline partners on contingency plans.

Meanwhile, Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman AlThani said calls for a World Cup boycott were from a small minority of countries.

Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, has come under intense pressure in recent years for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.

The country’s human rights record led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the tournament but Sheikh Mohammed said such calls were meaningless because tickets were almost sold out. “There is a lot of hypocrisy in these attacks, which ignore all that we have achieved,” he said.