British Airways logos on the tail fins at Heathrow Airport in west London, UK. February 23, 2018. Portal/Hannah McKay/File
More of 1,400 security officers at London Heathrow Airport attend one between this Friday and Easter Sunday ten-day strike convened by the union unite after breaking off negotiations with management about a salary increase.
Security staff in Terminal 5, which is used exclusively by British people, are affected by the strike British Airways -Part of the Spanish-British group IAG- and the guards responsible for screening all cargo entering the facilities, the union said in a statement.
Heathrow CEO, John Holland KayeHe told Sky News this morning “works normally”as agency workers were hired to replace the strikers and reassured those leaving after Easter that “You will have a good trip”.
Unite regrets that negotiations over Heathrow Airport Limited have collapsed “didn’t significantly improve his salary offer” after real-world cuts during the pandemic, while airport sources say the union wasted a good deal of 10% along with another prompt payment.
Passengers queue in the departures hall of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London, Britain, June 27, 2022. Portal/Henry Nicholls/File
Secretary General of Unite, Sharon Grahamit says in the statement “Heathrow can afford to pay its workers a fair wage increase”.
“This is a rich company that is about to return to extraordinary profits. In the last few years it has happened astronomical increase on its CEO’s salary and paid billions in dividends to shareholders,” he argues.
The union memo shows that Holland-Kaye’s salary increased between 2020 and 2021, according to the company £800,000 ($990,000) to £1.5 million ($1.85 million) per year an increase of 88%.
The current average salary for a security guard at Heathrow working “endless shifts” is 30,000 pounds (about $37,000) per year with a base salary of 26,000 ($32,170)which is 24% down in real terms from 2017, he adds.
Unite also denounces that Heathrow paid between 2017 and 2019 £2.1 billion ($2.6 billion) in dividends to shareholders, including the Spanish company Ferrovial.
(With information from EFE)
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