LONDON – The visitors traveling to and from Birmingham airport might face hiccups as a protest has been announced.
The details reveal that around 100 security officers and terminal technicians at the Airport are set to observe a strike and passengers are likely to face delays with industrial action over pay conditions to continue ‘indefinitely’ from July 18.
Unite, the union representing BHX workers, said staff will strike “after facing two years of substantial pay cuts”. The body said three-quarters of the striking workforce are security officers working unsociable shift patterns for as little as £11.50 an hour.
The union elaborated that without a significant pay rise, staff believes “recruitment and retention issues at the airport will worsen”.
On the other hand, the management of the airport took a different stance and claimed that its current pay offer is “well above the current UK average” and that any impact from strike action will be “limited”.
Nonetheless, the union is adamant that the pay conditions are not adequate considering the inflation being observed.
“Last year, workers received a pay rise of just 2.8 percent when the real rate of inflation, RPI, was running at 13.8 percent – equating to an 11 percent pay cut. This year, they have been offered 7.75 per cent and a one-off £850 payment,” a Unite spokesperson said.
“However, this is a further real terms pay cut as RPI inflation is still running high at 11.3 per cent. The offer would leave many workers unable to pay their bills as well as causing more staffing shortages,” he added.
Meanwhile, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Birmingham Airport has returned to profitability but expects its low-paid workers to swallow a real-terms pay cut after successive attacks on their wages and terms and conditions.
The union stated that the protest would severely impact BHX’s security and terminal maintenance operations which could lead to delays for carriers such as TUI, EasyJet, Wizz, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Emirates.
Unite regional officer Sulinder Singh said the dispute could have been resolved early if Birmingham Airport had put forward a pay offer that reflected the deterioration in wages its workers have experienced.
“There is still time for that to happen, but the airport must table a deal our members can accept,” he said.
Though delays are expected, a BHX spokesperson negated any possibility of cancellation of flights.
“However, if strike action does take place, we are confident the impact will be limited, and we do not anticipate any cancellations. Our advice to customers remains to arrive at the airport in line with guidance from their airline,” he said.
