Luton Airport: 200,000 bank holiday passengers face strike disruption

Firefighters, security officers, assistance staff and baggage handlers may stop work in a dispute over pay and zero hours' contracts

Tens of thousands of travellers booked to fly in and out of Luton Airport over the bank holiday weekend could find their journeys disrupted by a series of strikes stretching over five days. Industrial action is due to start at 7am on Friday 25 May and continue to 6.30am on Wednesday 30 May.

Members of the Unite union working in a range of posts at the Bedfordshire airport have voted to stop work in a dispute over pay and zero hours’ contracts.

Firefighters will strike for 24 hours from 7am on Friday 25 May. ​Menzies Aviation ground staff, including baggage handlers, plan to stop work from 3am on Saturday 26 May to 2pm on Sunday.

Security staff will strike from 3am on bank holiday Monday to 5am on Tuesday. Assistance staff working for Clece Care Services will stop work for 48 hours from 5am on Monday.

Finally, staff working in air operations and engineering plan a 24-hour strike from 6.30am on Tuesday 29 May.

The Independent has calculated that more than 200,000 passengers are booked to travel through the airport over the five days, which will include one of the busiest weekends of the year so far.

It follows a pay offer described as “paltry” by the union. Unite says the airport has offered to increase workers’ pay by 2.15 per cent, after a year in which passenger numbers increased by 8.6 per cent and profits rose by to £44m.

Luton Airport says it has made a pay offer of 2.5 per cent plus £150 for every member of staff it employs, to be paid in July 2018.

Unite’s regional officer, Jeff Hodge, warned of "severe disruption unless management get around the table and negotiate a fair deal which recognises the contribution workers make”.

A spokesman for Luton Airport said: “We are disappointed that Unite members have chosen this course of action and recognise the uncertainty this news will cause for our passengers.

“We are working with the 73 per cent of staff who did not vote to strike, to mitigate the impact of any action.

“We also remain committed to continuing discussions with Unite in the interim before any such action can take place. We will keep passengers regularly.”

The main airlines at Luton are Ryanair, Wizz Air and easyJet, which has its headquarters at the airport.