Britain Airport Workers Plan Strikes in January

Workers at some of Britain’s busiest airports have voted to stage three strikes in the New Year in a dispute over pensions, union officials said last week.

The staff at seven airports, including London’s Heathrow and Gatwick, decided to take action after airport operator BAA PLC announced its intention to change its employee pension plan, the Unite union said.

The union said the strikes would lead to severe disruptions during a normally busy period. BAA called on the union to return to talks.

The first strike will be for 24 hours on January 7; the second will be for 24 hours on January 14, and the third will be for 48 hours starting Jan 17. Edinburgh, Stansted, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton are the other airports affected.

Workers involved include firefighters, maintenance and security staff and clerical workers, said Unite representative Brendan Gold. Gold said the existing pension plan was sound and need not be changed.

“After a series of fruitless meetings with the company our members have been left with no option but to resort to industrial action to defend their interests,” he said.

BAA said none of its current workers would be affected by the planned changes –which will make the existing pension scheme unavailable to new employees.

Cabin crew with Virgin Atlantic airline announced Thursday that they would be staging strikes in the New Year after failing to agree on a new pay increase.