British travelers departing the country suffered lengthy lines at UK airports this morning, and given that British Airways employees working at London Heathrow have voted to strike, the issue is only expected to become worse throughout the summer vacation.
In a dispute over wages, more than 1,200 Heathrow check-in and ground-handling employees decided to take industrial action yesterday. Around July 22, when the summer break starts, the GMB and Unite unions are anticipated to announce strike dates.
They promised that they would only end the protest if BA complied with their requests within a week or so. Families might be forced to postpone or cancel vacations if the BA walkouts proceed, and they risk getting detained abroad if flights home are cancelled.
Only two weeks’ notice is required from unions before a strike. Customers with grounded flights are eligible for a refund or to be rebooked on another flight on the day of departure, even if it is operated by a different airline.
However, it is uncertain whether there would be enough seats given that airlines are reducing their schedules as a result of employee shortages and airport flight limits. It will cause BA, which suffered enormous financial losses due to the epidemic, to suffer greatly.
At Heathrow, approximately 550 BA flights depart and land each day, but this number is anticipated to increase in the summer. As a result, the airline is now developing emergency preparations to maintain as many flights as possible on strike days.
The action threatens to cancel hundreds of flights in total, with about half of them being short haul and the other half longer distance.
A traveler at Birmingham Airport tweeted this morning, “Congratulations Birmingham Airport, you now have a queue that folds three lengths of the airport! “, as large lines formed at Bristol, Manchester, and Birmingham airports once more today.
You have broken your #SLAs [service level agreements] for the second time this week.
Senior supervisors’ full compensation, according to the staff, has been reinstated. A one-time 10% incentive from BA was proposed, but it was declined. Yesterday, talks between representatives from the two parties went on.
It is the most recent setback for a sector that has struggled to expand as passenger numbers have increased.
Numerous flights have been delayed or cancelled, lengthy lines have built up at airports, and passengers have been had to wait four hours or longer for luggage as a result of carriers cutting thousands of jobs during the pandemic.
After carriers cut thousands of positions during the epidemic, the problems have primarily been brought on by a lack of employees.
The pig-headedness of British Airways is causing severe disruption for vacationers, according to Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB.
“BA tried to offer our members table scraps in the form of a 10% one-time bonus payment, but this isn’t good enough,” the company said.
“Our members need to have the 10% that was wrongfully taken from them last year, together with their entire back pay, and the 10% bonus that other coworkers have received, reinstated.”
As they attempt to control the travel mayhem brought on by staff shortages and IT issues, GMB members at Heathrow have endured unspeakable abuse.
In addition, due to BA’s callous fire and rehire policy, their income has been reduced. What did BA anticipate would occur?
It’s still possible to save the summer break because other BA employees had their wage reductions reversed.
Do the same for the ground workers and check-in staff, and this strike may be stopped in its tracks.
When asked if she would book a flight with BA in the coming months, Ms. Houghton responded, “Not at this stage,” to BBC Radio 4’s PM program.
The GMB reported that 91% of its members supported industrial action, while Unite reported that 94% of its members agreed.
The issues British Airways is having are entirely of its own doing, according to Oliver Richardson, national officer for aviation at Unite.
Even though the government was paying them to save jobs, it savagely reduced positions and pay during the pandemic.
“In this disagreement, they have insulted this workforce by cutting managers’ compensation by 10% and then restoring it to them at the expense of our workers.”
The dedicated employees of BA are being treated like second-class citizens, and they won’t stand for it any longer.
The services provided by BA at Heathrow will unavoidably be severely disrupted by strike action.
Before strikes are called, the employer has a limited window of time to resume the salary of our members. I implore BA not to blow that chance.
Thousands more BA employees, including engineers and call center agents, are participating in a consultative ballot, according to the GMB.
If enough support is gathered, a formal ballot for strike action will start in a few weeks.
Given that it includes employees of both Heathrow and Gatwick airports, it increases the possibility of summertime disruption on a far larger scale.
Demands for compensation increases in accordance with inflation are the topic of a distinct argument.
Downing Street urged BA to implement backup plans, claiming that a strike would only increase travelers’ “misery” at airports.
Spokesman for No. 10: “We would strongly encourage both to come together to find a settlement. This is obviously a matter for British Airways and the unions.
The “Department for Transport will obviously work closely to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place and we expect BA to put in place contingency measures to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible and that where there is disruption, that passengers can be refunded,” according to the statement.
We are very dissatisfied with the outcome and the unions’ decision to pursue this line of action, according to a statement from BA.
We presented a 10% payment offer, which was accepted by the majority of our coworkers in spite of the incredibly difficult circumstances and losses of more than £4 billion.
“We are absolutely dedicated to working together to find a solution, because we need to work as a team to deliver for our customers and restore our business.”
As the situation develops, “We will of course keep our consumers updated about what this entails for them.”
As unions representing other professions exercise their muscles in search of inflation-busting wage increases, it will exacerbate worries that Britain is facing a summer of strikes.
The National Education Union has warned that unless ministers provide “inflation-plus wage rises for all teachers,” schools could be the next target of strike action.
A strike over salary is also being threatened by the unions that represent doctors, nurses, government employees, and postal workers.
Some people have even requested settlements that are 5% higher than inflation, which this week reached 9.1%.
According to a government aide, the formal independent pay review bodies should ‘in at least some circumstances’ suggest pay increases of up to 5% for public sector employees. These wage raises will have to come from already allocated funds.
It happened at the same time that Manuel Cortes, the head of the TSSA rail union, suggested that his organization might work with the militant RMT to prevent “any trains from running at all” during the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next month.
A walkout over the Commonwealth Games, which start on July 28, could be planned by Mr. Cortes’ union, which is balloting employees at Network Rail and nine rail companies.
He responded, “That’s obviously a possibility, I rule absolutely nothing out,” when asked if the 10-day tournament, which England previously held in 2002, will be targeted.
‘It’s not impossible that we’ll leave together. And I’m positive there won’t be any trains running at all if our people strike alongside the RMT.
“We’re definitely on the verge of the biggest rail strike wave since 1926.”
The union, like the RMT, is in a salary and job security dispute with Network Rail and railway companies.
After going on strike twice already—on Tuesday and yesterday—RMT employees will strike again for 24 hours on Wednesday. There are worries that the union may announce further strikes as early as July 9.
A BA spokesman expressed his company’s “deep disappointment” with the outcome and the unions’ decision to pursue this line of action.
We presented a 10% payment offer, which was accepted by the majority of our coworkers in spite of the incredibly difficult circumstances and losses of more than £4 billion.
“We are absolutely dedicated to working together to find a solution, because we need to work as a team to deliver for our customers and restore our business.”