Members began voting in the ballot on June 7. The ballot closes later, with results also expected to be announced today. No date has yet been set for strike action.
It comes as, separately, Unite is continuing to ballot its members over potential industrial action for BA check-in staff at Heathrow.
The union claims BA has restored management pay to pre-crisis levels. But it says the airline is refusing to reverse a 10 per cent cut imposed on blue collar workers during the pandemic.
Some 500 staff will be balloted between June 7 and June 27. Speaking earlier this month, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘A strike by our members will make an immediate impact on the service to customers so I urge BA to get a grip and restore these workers’ pay immediately.
‘Unfortunately our members find themselves in the middle of a dispute that has been nearly three years in the making when when British Airways chose to use fire and rehire very opportunistically during the pandemic to cut our members pay and conditions at a time they were unable to fight back and defend themselves.
‘All our members are asking for, and these are primarily low paid, working women, working on the front line of the aviation crisis, facing verbal and in some cases physical abuse, all they are asking for is the 10 per cent back that they have robbed from them during the pandemic.
‘They are not asking for a pay rise, they are not asking for a penny more, they are just asking for the money back that they’ve had taken from them.’
In response, BA stated that after the Covid travel limitations were lifted, staff members were given a 10% payment for this year, which was declined.
Ms. Houghton responded, “Unfortunately it is just not accurate,” in response.
They were given a 10% one-time bonus payment, but what their members are really fighting for is the 10% of their consolidated pay, which obviously goes toward their pension and represents the money they lost during the pandemic. This 10% is what they see in any future pay rises each year.
‘Yes there has been financial issues with the airline, obviously they have been hit by the pandemic. They’ve also been saddled with a huge amount of debt by their parent company and they were also very profitable before the pandemic and were able to pay out £1.6bn in dividends in the pandemic.’
On June 7, members started casting their ballots. Voting ends later, and today is expected to see the release of the results. The start of a strike has not yet been scheduled.
Separately, Unite is still holding votes among its members over prospective strikes by BA check-in agents at Heathrow.
According to the union, BA has brought manager compensation back to pre-crisis levels. However, it claims that the airline is refusing to undo a 10% cut that was implemented during the pandemic for blue-collar staff.
Between June 7 and June 27, 500 employees will be put to the vote. Earlier this month, Unite national secretary Sharon Graham said: “I urge BA to get a handle on this and return these workers’ salary promptly. A strike by our members will have an immediate impact on the service to consumers.”
‘British Airways used the cover of Covid to brutally cut members’ pay. BA has now reversed the pay cuts imposed on management but refuses to do this for our members. This is disgraceful. Unite will not allow our members to be treated as a second-class workforce.’
James Robinson, a golfer, posted the video. The PGA golfer and social media celebrity posted a video of the lines and captioned it, “Good to see Terminal 2 is coping well….”
At Heathrow, the turmoil surrounding checked bags is still present. Since Terminal 2 experienced a “technical malfunction” last Friday, a sizable “carpet” of luggage accumulated outside of the terminal.
The airport has apologized to travelers who were inconvenienced and claims that airlines, not the airport, are in charge of baggage.
Twitter users today expressed their frustration at not receiving their bags six days after arriving at Heathrow.
One person posted on social media, “Hi Heathrow. Since you misplaced my luggage, it has been six days. I want to know who is looking for my two missing luggage and where they are right now. When will I receive them back?
Still waiting for my four bags, another person wrote. Seven days have passed already. Thank you for the worst services, Heathrow and Indian Airlines.
It occurs while stranded travelers at Manchester Airport wait two hours to get their bags off the plane.
Yesterday morning, travelers faced lengthy check-in lines at the airport and reported that, despite being the “only plane to land in T1” during that time, they did not collect their bags for more than two hours.
As vacationers continue to be caught up in airport jams, ministers have revealed impromptu initiatives to help avert summer travel catastrophe.
They made plans to alter the rules that presently compel airlines to fly a specific number of aircraft or risk losing valuable landing slots public on Monday.
In order to prevent last-minute cancellations and chaos in the airports, new laws were presented to Parliament.
They will permit a one-time “amnesty” on landing slots, allowing airlines to cancel flights before the busy summer travel period without having to worry about losing them permanently.
Following weeks of cancellations and lengthy lines due to staff shortages, thousands of travelers have had their flights and travel plans interrupted.
In addition to travelers, Heathrow’s luggage mess has resulted in staff members leaving dozens of bags outside the baggage carousels.
One traveler reported being in the same immigration line at Heathrow Terminal 3 for the past two hours. 500+ passengers being managed by two officers is insane.
‘My aunt has been waiting in line at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 immigration for just under four hours,’ a different person stated.
There are two open desks. Is this nation safe?
It comes after thousands of travelers were left without their luggage on Friday due to a “technical glitch” with the baggage system in Terminal 2.
Without any workers present to sort through them, hundreds of bags were piled up around the terminal.
According to reports, some passengers had to leave without receiving their baggage at all while others had to wait for them for hours.
one published online: “I arrived in Lisbon on a Sunday morning flight from Heathrow Airport, but my suitcase is still missing.”
Absolute disaster. I really don’t want to check it in on the return trip, even if it does come (unlikely)!
We sincerely apologize for the technical difficulties with our baggage systems that inconvenienced travelers over the weekend, a Heathrow spokesman said.
“We are working with airlines around-the-clock to reunite travelers with their bags.”
“We ask that customers verify with their airline for the most recent information regarding specific luggage.”
Travelers from Stansted Airport have been made to sleep on the ground before being’screamed’ at to get up by staff.
Complete mayhem in Stansted Airport every single night, according to one traveler.
People missing flights and being stranded without luggage or any taxis to get home are sleeping all over the check-in arrivals gate.
“Airport staff are yelling at passengers to stand up.” Terrible circumstances and a terrible third-world nation.
British Airways, easyJet, TUI, and Wizz Air have canceled scores of flights, some at the last minute, leaving thousands of customers stranded and wreaking havoc in airports.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, announced the change to landing slots on Monday night. He said: “I will do all in my power to prevent them from having to deal with depressing last-minute cancellations and mayhem at airports when the system can’t deliver.”
The declaration made today is intended to help airlines reassure travelers and make the upcoming few months as hassle-free as possible.
Robert Courts, the aviation minister, added: “We cannot have a scenario where people show up at the airport only to have their flight canceled or have significant delays.”
At the busiest airports, landing slots—which function like parking spots for aircraft—are utilized to control capacity.
A slot is a very valuable commercial asset that allows use of the entire range of airport facilities required to operate an aircraft.
Airlines are required to utilize slots a predetermined number of times per season, currently 70% of the time.
“This is a good step that will assist build greater resilience into operations this summer, coming on top of measures already taken by the sector,” said Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK.
To make the summer peak as seamless as possible for our passengers, “We will continue to cooperate with ministries and the entire aviation eco-system.”
Travelers in Britain have been advised to prepare for a “worse than pleasant” experience during the upcoming few months.
In the midst of scenes of mayhem at Manchester and Heathrow, Ryanair’s CEO yesterday warned that instability at Britain’s major airports will persist “all through the summer.”
Air traffic control, baggage handling, and security are currently suffering from manpower shortages, according to Michael O’Leary, who has alleged that the Government’s Covid lockdowns and general “mismanagement” forced airport administrators to enact mass layoffs.
This issue will persist throughout the summer, especially at airports like Gatwick and Heathrow. According to him, it will get worse on the weekends and better throughout the week.
According to Mr. O’Leary, air traffic control problems and airport handling delays contributed to delays on 25% and 15%, respectively, of Ryanair flights over the past weekend.
In addition, he noted that Brexit was making things worse because airports were unable to attract foreign workers to fill positions when demand increased following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
While easyJet began canceling 10,000 flights to popular European vacation destinations including Greece, Italy, and Spain from July through September, Heathrow and Gatwick have urged carriers to postpone thousands of flights this summer as they battle to reclaim control.
Another setback for travelers will come in the form of easyJet’s Spain-based cabin crew’s planned nine-day strike in July if their requests for increased pay from the low-cost carrier are not granted.
On July 1-3, 15-17, and 29-31, workers will go on strike, which might make traveling more difficult as the industry tries to keep up with the uptick in demand.
According to the union USO, the airline’s flight attendants in Spain are asking for a 40% raise in their base pay.
The announcement comes as UK airports continue to grapple with turmoil for travelers due to a lack of employees.
According to estimates, EasyJet would lose between £100 million and £200 million this year as a result of the predicted 11,000 flights it will be removing from its summer timetables.
It follows comments made by the former British Airways CEO that Heathrow “cannot deliver the core goods they are required to give.”
‘It is ironic that the three airports I cite in terms of large price hikes are also the three that have seen the most disruption in recent weeks,’ said Willie Walsh of Heathrow, Schiphol in Amsterdam, and Dublin.
It truly makes you wonder about the management executives of these airports who are unable to even offer the simplest of their own products. I will keep requesting that these airports clean up their actions.