Security staff at Gatwick Airport to strike at business period of the year

In a dispute over pay Gatwick Airport security staff are set to stage a two day strike on 10 August from 6am which will “cause travel disruption” the union Unite said.

The union said most of the 130 staff who scan passenger’s luggage and are employed by ICTS are paid less than £9 per hour.

Jamie Major, Unite regional officer said, “It is high time the airport got its priorities right and starts investing in its hard-working staff, instead of paying millions to its shareholders.”

Coby Benson, of compensation law firm Bott & Co said the strike are to fall “in the midst of peak holiday season in a busy month for air travel in general.”

Unite calls off Heathrow strikes set for busiest two days of the year

Strikes by 4,000 Heathrow airport workers on Friday and Saturday have been called off so they can vote on a new pay offer.

The strikes would have hit flights on one of the busiest weekends of the summer.

The Unite union said it would not give details of the offer until members had considered it.

Two more 48-hour strikes from 5 August and 23 August are currently still on the cards.

Earlier in July, Heathrow staff rejected an 18-month pay rise offer averaging 2.7%.

At the time, the union said the workers were angry over pay rates, including different pay rates for the same job.

There was also disquiet over the pay package of airport boss John Holland-Kaye, who got £4.2m in 2018, up from £2.1m in 2017, mainly thanks to a long-term bonus scheme.

Separately, on Tuesday British Airways lost a legal bid to stop its pilots from going on strike over pay in the summer holiday season, but said it planned to appeal against the decision.

The pilots’ union has yet to set any dates for industrial action.