Proactive Investors - Gatwick Airport will suffer eight days of strikes over the summer holidays as almost a thousand workers represented by the Unite union fight for better pay.
The strikes will take place between Friday July 28 and Tuesday August 1 and then again between Friday August 4 and Tuesday 8 August – a period which could be the busiest time for travel since the pandemic.
Major airlines which will be affected include British Airways (LON:ICAG), EasyJet, Ryanair (LON:0RYA), Tui and Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ).
Given the scale of the industrial action flight cancellations, delays and severe disruption is expected across the whole airport.
Workers undertaking roles like baggage and ground handling and check-in agents are hoping for an increase to their £12 per hour average salary.
Unite claims despite the “highly demanding” labour required of the staff, workforces at the airport have suffered large-scale redundancies, pay cuts and reductions to working conditions.
Talks between the union and the airport workers’ employers have been taking place since January but a suitable offer is yet to be tabled.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Our members at Gatwick Airport undertake incredibly demanding roles and are essential to keeping the airport and airlines working, yet their employers somehow think it is acceptable to pay them a pittance.
“As part of Unite’s unyielding focus on the jobs, pay and condition of its members the union has drawn a line in the sand and is committed to eradicating the scourge of low pay at the airport.”
Rail workers and junior doctors are also striking for better pay, with workers having been embroiled in talks for almost a year.
Over in the US, Hollywood actors are poised to join writers on the picket line after a deal between the Screen Actors Guild and the AMPTP failed to come to fruition.