LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2023) Over 1,400 security guards at London's Heathrow airport will take part in a 10-day strike starting Friday, demanding a pay raise amid the soaring cost of living in the United Kingdom.
Heathrow's security guards are expected to go on strike from March 31 to April 9, the Unite trade union said. The strike will partly overlap with the Easter holidays, which could cause "severe delays and disruption" to flights due to heavier passenger traffic.
Unite decided to proceed with the strike after last-minute talks failed to resolve the pay dispute.
Chief Executive of Heathrow John Holland-Kaye said to Sky news that Heathrow is "operating as normal" thanks to forward planning. The airport hired another 1,000 workers and asked British Airways, which uses Terminal Five - now incapacitated by the strike, to cancel "a very small number of flights - 13 departures a day" to help bring down demand, he said.
He also noted that the 10%-raise proposed by the airport exceeds this year's expected rate of inflation, and that the Unity members working in other terminals as well as members of the Public and Commercial Services Union have accepted the offer.
