London – Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester check-in staff strike Dec. 23, 24 – December 18, 2014

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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Christmas flight chaos as check-in staff at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports vote to strike on December 23 and 24

  • Staff employed by dnata at three UK airports voted for strike action
  • Workers angry that supervisors awarded 4.5% pay increase
  • Industrial action to take place on December 23 and 24
  • Unite calls for peace talks to avoid walkout on key travel dates 

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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Thousands hoping to get away for Christmas could face chaos after airport staff voted to walk out for two days from December 23.

Heathrow is expected to bear the brunt of the disruption, as nearly 500 check-in staff and ground crew members plan to strike over pay.

Three of Heathrow’s five terminals will be affected, as well as Gatwick and Manchester Airports if the action goes ahead.

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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But last night, airport and airline bosses insisted they would cope.

Heathrow said it had contingency plans in place to ‘minimise disruption for passengers’ and did not want to ‘raise unnecessary alarm’.

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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The Unite union, which is behind the strike, said its members who work for air services provider Dnata at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester had voted by more than four to one in favour of the action.

Dnata’s main customers include Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines and Qantas Airways. The union said the strike was in protest at an imposed 2.2 per cent pay increase at a time when supervisors were being granted a rise of 4.5 per cent.

It added that the walkout ‘would have an impact’ on air travellers, but that the extent of the chaos would depend on contingency plans put in place by management.

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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Unite represents around a quarter of the 1,900 Dnata staff who carry out check-in, ground crew and cargo duties at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports.

At Heathrow, the striking staff work in Terminals 2, 3 and 4. The walkout will not affect Terminal 5, where British Airways is based.

Heathrow said Terminals 2, 3 and 4 handle around 45 per cent of the 1,300 flights and up to 200,000 passengers it processes each day.

Turnout among the 460 Unite members eligible to vote was just 45 per cent. Of those who voted, some 83 per cent supported the strike ‘if the company continued to refuse to negotiate’.

Unite said it was not its intention to wreck Christmas for families, but simply to get the firm around the negotiating table.

A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: ‘We are being kept informed of the situation. Should the strike action take place, we are confident that Dnata will have contingency plans to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum.’

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airport check-in staff vote to strike | Daily Mail Online <!–// // // // = 0;
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Emirates, which runs up to half a dozen flights a day from Heathrow, said: ‘At this time, Emirates does not expect any changes to its current flight schedule.’

A Heathrow spokesman said it would have extra staff on hand, adding: ‘Passengers should allow plenty of time for travelling through the airport and speak to their airline if they have any concerns.’

Gatwick confirmed that as Dnata have only a small operation at the airport, no passengers would be affected if the strike goes ahead.

A spokesman for Dnata said contingency plans to help passengers were being implemented, adding: ‘Unite members are a minority of our team in the UK.’

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2877817/Christmas-flight-chaos-check-staff-Heathrow-Gatwick-Manchester-airports-vote-strike-December-23-24.html

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