After over 1,000 workers at London’s Gatwick Airport voted to strike over a salary issue, hundreds of thousands of British tourists may have their travel plans disrupted at the start of the school summer vacations.
The Unite union announced on Friday that its members, who work for four private contractors as baggage handlers and check-in personnel, will strike for four days starting on July 28 and for another four days starting on August 4.
After the school year has concluded, the union said that the action will “inevitably” result in flight disruptions during the height of the summer vacation period.
British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI, WestJet, and Wizz Air are among the affected airlines.
Just south of the United Kingdom is Gatwick. Capital, London’s second-biggest airport after Heathrow, sees a spike in traffic throughout the summer to the Mediterranean beach resorts of Europe.
According to aviation data provider Cirium, a total of 4,410 flights with more than 840,000 seats are planned to leave Gatwick during the course of the strike.
The parties to the conflict work for companies including ASC, Menzies Aviation, GGS, and DHL Services, which outsource functions for airlines like check-in, luggage handling, and ground management.
Unite claimed that since January, talks had been ongoing with the four businesses.
The union has drawn a line in the sand and is determined to eradicate the scourge of poor pay at the airport, according to Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary. “As part of Unite’s unyielding focus on the jobs, pay, and condition of its members,” Graham said
The past several months in Britain have seen a variety of strikes as workers from different industries fight for pay increases that at least keep up with inflation. Even though it has decreased from its peak, inflation, at 8.7%, is still high.
The majority of the scheduled strikers, according to Unite, are paid less than 12 pounds ($15.50) per hour on average. Due to air traffic control constraints, Gatwick is already experiencing significant disruption, along with other airports in Europe.
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