LONDON – One of the famous airports of the United Kingdom, Heathrow Airport is set to witness a series of strikes by security guards, thus affecting thousands of passengers in days to come.
The strikes have been planned throughout the summer and as many as 2000 security guards will walk out for 31 days as part of the strike.
The protesting security guards are members of the Unite union whose general secretary Sharon Graham said the union was putting Heathrow on notice that strike action at the airport will continue until it makes a fair pay offer to its workers.
‘Make no mistake, our members will receive the union’s unflinching support in this dispute,’ he warned.
What could exacerbate the situation for thousands of travelers is the fact that for the first time, security officers working at Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport will join their colleagues from Terminal 5, as well as campus security, who have already taken industrial action.
As far as the dates are concerned, the strike would be observed on June 24, 25, 28, 29, and 30. Moreover, strikes will also affect flights from Heathrow on July 14-16, 21-24, 28-31, as well as August 4-7, 11-14, 18-20 and 24-27.
The summer strikes at Heathrow will coincide with the beginning of the school holidays and the August bank holiday, implying that those who plan to utilize the holidays might have to alter their plans if a deal is not made.
There are multiple airlines that are set to be affected by the strikes. British Airways faces the brunt of strikes as Heathrow is the airline’s flagship airport; however, because these strikes will affect Terminals 3 and 5, a number of other airlines could also be affected.
As far as major carriers that use Terminal 3 are concerned, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Iberia, and Qantas are amongst the ones to be affected.
While the workers seem resilient, a Heathrow spokesperson said that they will do everything they can to minimize strike disruption, criticizing Unite for taking ‘unnecessary strikes on some of our busiest days’.
‘The simple fact remains that the majority of colleagues do not support Unite’s strikes. There is a two-year inflation-beating pay rise ready for colleagues if only Unite would allow them to have a say. We will continue talks with Unite about resolving this issue,’ the spokesperson said.
