Thousands of holidaymakers were today facing the threat of travel chaos over the August bank holiday after the biggest union at British Airways called a 24-hour strike over pay.
The Transport and General Workers Union said thousands of its members at the airline, including baggage handlers and check-in staff at Gatwick, will walk out at 4.30am on Friday, August 27, after voting overwhelmingly for industrial action.
The GMB union is also threatening a 24-hour strike over the bank holiday weekend after its members, who work mainly as check-in staff at Heathrow and Gatwick, voted for industrial action.
The BA dispute worsened after the TGWU announced that two thirds of check-in staff and more than 84 per cent of baggage handlers had voted to take industrial action in protest at a three-year pay deal worth 8.5 per cent.
The airline repeated its call for another ballot after a fresh offer of an extra £1,000 was tabled, provided sickness absence was halved.
Operations director Mike Street said it would be absurd for a strike to go ahead on the basis of an old offer.
Brendan Gold, chief negotiator of the TGWU, said the offer was a move in the right direction but it was not acceptable to link it to sickness.
He said the size of the vote should send a clear message to BA that workers were angry about their pay at a time when the airline was making improved profits.
He said: We don't want to disrupt people's holidays and we are determined to reach a settlement."
Thursday August 19, 2004
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