Hundreds of British Airways workers at Heathrow Airport to strike over summer holidays

April Curtin

Overall, 95% of the workers voted to strike

Hundreds of British Airways employees are set to strike during the school summer holidays, it has been announced.

BA staff working at Heathrow Airport were balloted by GMB trade union on Thursday morning, with 95% of the workers voting in favour of the strike.

BA workers at Heathrow who are members of a separate union, Unite, have also been balloted, and the results of this vote are expected on Monday.

Over 700 check-in and ground handling agents working for BA could strike as part of the action.

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, told Sky News that holiday makers could face huge challenges thanks to the “pig-headedness” of British Airways.

“GMB members at Heathrow have suffered untold abuse as they deal with the travel chaos caused by staff shortages and IT failures.

“At the same time, they’ve had their pay slashed during BA’s callous fire and rehire policy. What did BA think was going to happen?”

Some BA workers were given a 10% pay cut during the pay cut – something which GMB is fighting to get reversed. BA said it offered a 10% one-off bonus to employees, which was rejected, but did not offer a return to pre-Covid salaries.

“It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed,” Houghton said, “Do the same for ground and check in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud.”

A British Airways spokesperson said the company is “extremely disappointed” with the result, but said: “We will of course keep our customers updated about what this means for them as the situation evolves.”

The news comes as the biggest rail strike in three decades continues across the UK this week, which could also continue into the summer months.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT), which represents all kinds of railway staff, said its members have been subject to “pay freezes, threats to jobs and attacks on their terms and conditions”.

The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, warned that more strikes are “extremely likely” if a settlement isn’t reached for all workers.

He said his members wanted a “guarantee of no compulsory redundancies”.

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