Summer strike threat dwindles as Heathrow walkout suspended

Unite union has also made progress at Gatwick

Back to work: security staff at Heathrow have suspended their planned strike (Simon Calder)

The likelihood of summer disruption at Britain’s biggest airports is dwindling.

A planned strike at Heathrow involving security staff has been suspended, another at Gatwick called off entirely and there has been no announcement, so far, of industrial action by British Airways’ pilots.

Around 4,000 members of the Unite union working at Heathrow had planned to strike on 23 and 24 August in a pay dispute.

A previous two-day strike was called off last week at very late notice – too late for dozens of cancelled flights to be reinstated.

The airport asked airlines to ground departures in order to reduce the pressure on security queues.

Since then, negotiations have continued at the conciliation service Acas, and late on Tuesday night the stoppage was suspended.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We’re pleased that Unite has postponed the strike action scheduled for 23 and 24 August to give union members the time to consider our revised offer.

“We have put an additional £2.5m on the table since talks began, with our current offer bringing the total pay rise to 7.8 per cent over two years for all frontline colleagues.

“This is well above RPI, higher than any other UK airport and helps to provide long-term wage certainty and job security.”

The July figure for RPI was 2.8 per cent.

“Heathrow has a duty to ensure the business is sustainable – particularly against the backdrop of increasing economic uncertainty facing the UK in the immediate future,” the spokesperson continued.

Planned industrial action by security workers at Gatwick airport has also been suspended after an improved pay offer was made.

The dispute involved 130 members of Unite, employed by a contractor, ICTS, to scan passengers’ luggage. A four-day strike had been called to begin on Tuesday 20 August.

A union spokesperson said: “Following extremely productive pay talks a dramatically improved pay offer has been made.

“The workers will now be balloted on the improved offer with a recommendation to accept.”

Talks between the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) and British Airways have ended, with the union now considering its next move. The pilots have voted overwhelmingly to strike in support of a pay claim.

The union’s general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: “Talks at Acas concluded with BA yesterday.

“The position reached will be discussed by Balpa this week and we will issue any resulting announcement as soon as possible.”

British Airways must be given two weeks’ notice of any industrial action, which appears to make 29 August the earliest possible date for a strike.

Pilots employed by Ryanair in the UK and belonging to Balpa have called a strike for 22 and 23 August, and 2-4 September.

The Independent calculates that 350,000 passengers could have their travel jeopardised by a strike.

But Irish pilots employed by Ryanair, who had also voted to strike, are returning to negotiations later today.