Article from BTNews 5 AUGUST 2019
Airport stoppage suspended
A strike called by the Unite union and due to start at Heathrow at a minute past midnight this morning (Monday) was suspended last night to enable further talks. It followed a weekend of meetings between the two sides and the conciliation service ACAS.
Unite said last night a planned strike due to start tomorrow (Tuesday) was still scheduled but it hoped the further talks today would avert it. It added the union would not be making any further comment “while talks are ongoing”.
The threat of a 48hr stoppage over a pay deal led Heathrow to order more than 170 flights – half of them British Airways services – due to operate today (Monday) and tomorrow to be cancelled to minimise disruption.
The dispute is with directly-employed airport staff, who include security guards, firefighters and engineers. Unite said 88% of its 4,000 members voted against the pay deal, which Heathrow said was worth 7.3% over two and a half years.
More strikes are currently planned on 23 and 24 August, and the airport dispute comes as BA is facing its own industrial action by pilots over pay, with talks set to resume today (see 'Pilot strike threat drags on' in this issue).
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