Gatwick Airport employees to go on strike during summer holidays

London : Nearly 1,000 workers at Gatwick Airport are set to strike for eight days in a row over hike.

The strikes will take place during the summer holiday, causing serious disruptions and delays. 

Unite, the trade union has said disruption and cancellations are inevitable due to the scale of the action, with the workers at four firms including baggage handlers and ground staff set to strike. 

Staff will strike over two weekends at the end of July and the beginning of August. There will be four days of strike action between 28 July - 1 August, then a further strike between 4-8 August.

British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Tui, Westjet and Wizz are all set to be affected by the strike action, the union says. 

Most of the workers earn under £12 per hour, Unite said, “despite undertaking highly demanding and safety critical roles”.

“During the pandemic, many companies at Gatwick Airport made large-scale redundancies and cut the pay and conditions of their remaining staff,” it added.

An EasyJet spokesman said the airline was "extremely disappointed" by news of the walkout.

"More talks between our ground handler DHL and Unite are taking place early next week to try and resolve the issue and we urge them to reach an agreement as soon as possible," the spokesperson added.

Spokespeople at DHL and GGS said they were continuing to work with Unite to try to reach a solution.

Phil Lloyd from Menzies Aviation said Unite had rejected its offer of an 11pc pay increase. "This pay award relates to our 2023 Pay Review and is in addition to the 10pc increase awarded in 2022".

He added that Menzies was in "continued discussions" with airlines and that it "remains committed to seeking a resolution".

On the days of the Gatwick strikes, a total of 4,410 flights - covering more than 880,000 seats - are scheduled to depart the airport, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

-B