Airport News
Summer strike action averted
Wed, 18 Aug, 2010
The Unite union has accepted an offer from BAA, averting strikes which could have caused major disruption to holidaymakers all over the country.
Planned industrial action could have led to the shut down of six British airports over a key holiday weekend this month but nine hours of talks saw BAA and Unite thrash out a deal.
The airport operator agreed to a two per cent pay rise alongside an additional lump sum of £500, paid directly to staff.
This follows last week's rejection of BAA's original one per cent offer by the union and a 3-1 vote in favour of industrial action which would have caused widespread chaos for thousands of British travellers.
Spokesmen for Unite Brian Boyd and Brendan Gold said: "The game is up for employers in the aviation industry. With the recession receding in the industry, Unite now expects BAA's pay offer to set the standard."
The news comes in the wake of an announcement earlier in the week in which Spanish air traffic controllers called off a strike which would have caused widespread disruption to travel in the country.
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