About 700 British Airways employees at Heathrow’s headquarters are expected to leave next month after overwhelmingly voting in favor of industrial action over a payroll claim.
GMB union members voted 95 percent in favor of the strike. Turnout was 80 percent. Unite union members are also expected to vote for the strike.
The GMB union says the members who voted for the strike are mostly low-paid women.
They are urging BA to reimburse the 10 percent reduction they took during the pandemic. They claim that “boss pay has returned to pre-pandemic levels”, with Luis Galego – CEO of BA’s parent company, IAG – on the pay line of £ 4.9 million this year.
In addition, unions say, these front-line workers are subjected to verbal and sometimes physical violence by passengers, with frequent confrontations.
Nadine Houghton, GMB’s national employee, said: “With grim predictability, holidaymakers are facing huge disruptions thanks to the recklessness of British Airways.
“BA has tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10 percent one-time bonus payment, but this does not reduce the mustard.
“Our members must be reimbursed for the 10 percent they stole from them last year, with full pay back and the 10 percent bonus paid to other colleagues.
“GMB members in Heathrow have suffered indescribable abuse while dealing with travel chaos caused by staff shortages and IT failures.
“At the same time, their salaries were reduced during BA’s harsh fire and re-hiring policy.
“It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have canceled their pay cuts, do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action can be eliminated in the offer.”
As the employer must receive a two-week notice of industrial action, the earliest possible start of the suspension is July 8.
GMB said in a statement: “The dates of the industrial operations will be confirmed in the coming days, but will probably be during the peak summer vacation period.”
Insiders suggest that the first strike may take place over the weekend of July 9 and 10, which coincides with the first weekend of summer vacation for many public schools in England.
An insider from BA said that the intention was to disrupt the travel of customers at high cost. “They go straight to the BA Club World demographic,” the source said.
A British Airways spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed with the outcome and the fact that the unions have chosen to take this course of action.
“Despite the extremely challenging environment and the loss of over £ 4 billion, we made a 10 per cent payment offer, which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.
“We are fully committed to working together to find a solution, because in order to provide our customers and rebuild our business, we need to work as a team. Of course, we will keep our customers informed of what this means for them as the situation develops. “
The Independent understands that the 10 percent offered by BA is a one-time payment that will not be consolidated into the basic salary.
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