Heathrow Strike Called Off As Staff Vote On New Pay Offer

24 July 2019, 13:39 | Updated: 24 July 2019, 13:43

Strikes planned by thousands of Heathrow airport workers later this week have been called off so they can vote on a new pay offer.

Around 4,000 members of Unite, including security guards and engineers, were due to walk out on Friday and Saturday, hitting flights on one of the busiest weekends of the summer.

The union said it was not revealing details of the offer until its members had considered it.

Two more 48-hour strikes from August 5 and 23 remain until the result of a ballot of workers is known, added Unite.

A Heathrow spokesman said: "We are pleased that Unite have decided to put our offer to our colleagues and to pause industrial action on 26 and 27 July. We welcome this outcome, as will thousands of passengers, whose holidays will now go to plan this weekend."

Previously the union said workers, including security guards, engineers, passenger service operatives and drivers, were set to walk out on Friday 26 July and Saturday 27 July in a row over pay.

Other dates that strikes were planned were 5-6 August, and 23-24 August.

At London Stansted strikes are planned for July 25-29, and August 2-5, August 9-12, August 16-19 and August 23-27.

Simon Calder, Travel Editor for the Independent spoke to LBC and said there were the proposed strikes at Heathrow could cause "very widespread problems."

Unite said "summer travel chaos at Heathrow Airport is looming large" after workers across the airport’s five terminals announced a series of strikes in a dispute over pay.

The union said action comes amid deepening anger over pay disparities between workers doing the same job at the airport and the ‘massive’ pay package of Heathrow Airport’s chief executive officer John Holland-Kaye.

Last year the Heathrow boss received a 103.2 per cent pay increase with his basic remuneration package rising from £2.097 million in 2017 to £4.2 million in 2018.