UK. Passengers using BAA airports face mass disruption this summer following a vote by ground staff to potentially commence strike action over a pay dispute.
BAA is the owner of Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports. Airports could be closed after the vote by ground staff, including fire fighters and security guards.
If it goes ahead the industrial action is certain to have a serious impact on travel retail revenues already hurt by this year’s volcanic ash crisis and the parlous state of the British economy.
Autogrill-owned WDF runs the duty free operations at all six BAA airports. Other commercial sectors such as food & beverage, car parking and general retail will also be affected badly.
In particular the all-important August Bank Holiday could be hit. The Unite union – which is also at the heart of the long-running British Airways cabin crew dispute – will meet on Monday to decide whether strike dates should be set and how long any action should proceed.
Both sides are reported in the mainstream media as saying they are hopeful that a deal can be struck to avert disruption to air passengers.
“If strike action goes ahead BAA faces total shutdown of the six airports,” said Brian Boyd, Unite’s national officer for aviation told The Times. “We are not ruling out anything. We are not going to take industrial action if it is not going to be effective.”
The union must give BAA seven days’ notice of any strike, so the earliest date for a stoppage would be 23 August.
British Prime Minister David Cameron hit out at the proposed industrial action yesterday, saying: “These sorts of strikes never achieve anything apart from damage – damage to business, damage to jobs, damage to the interests of tourists who want to come to visit Britain, or people who want to leave Britain and have a holiday.”
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