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ARCHIVED - British Airways check-in staff call off strike
The airline has already cancelled hundreds of flights, many of which were destined for Spain
Finally some good news for travellers after a decidedly shaky start to the summer: more than 700 check-in staff and ground-handling agents working for British Airways at Heathrow Airways have called off the strike action planned for the upcoming school holidays.
On July 7, Unite and GMB unions confirmed that after extensive talks the airline has agreed on a pay rise and bonuses for staff on top of a one-off payment, after workers took a 10% cut at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions.
A BA spokesperson said the airline was “very pleased” by the unions’ decision not to move to industrial action, calling it “great news for our customers and our people”.
Earlier this week, BA confirmed that it would be axing around 11% of its summer flights to Spain and other popular holiday destinations in an attempt to reduce the number of last-minute cancellations customers have been forced to endure due to staff shortages.
Since international travel opened up, all of the major airlines have struggled to keep up with the renewed demand for holidays, and have laid the blame on laborious recruitment processes and long security check delays in recruiting new staff.
GMB union’s national officer, Nadine Houghton, said that BA “finally moving on pay” is “long overdue”.
“It is very clear that workers organising and threatening industrial action is what has delivered,” she said.
“All our members – who are predominantly low-paid women – wanted was to be given back the pay cuts BA imposed on them during the pandemic, threatening them with fire and rehire if they said no.
“These are frontline workers facing anger from customers daily. The least they deserved was fair pay.”
Meanwhile, negotiations aren’t progressing quite as smoothly for other airlines. easyJet is refusing to budge on wages, indicating that its cabin crew in Spain will continue with their strike action throughout July, while Ryanair staff have already had six days of work stoppages, but have announced another 12 later in the month.
Image: Pixabay
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