Heathrow strike suspended to allow more talks in bid to end pay dispute
Written by News on 05/08/2019
A strike due to start at Heathrow Airport on Monday has been suspended so that further talks can take place to resolve a pay dispute.
Thousands of members of the Unite union were due to walk out from one minute past midnight for 48 hours.
Talks between the two sides had been going on throughout the weekend under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Unite said a planned strike due to start on Tuesday was still scheduled to go ahead but it hoped talks on Monday would avert it.
It said: “Tomorrow’s strike by Unite members working for Heathrow Airport has been suspended to allow for further talks at Acas tomorrow.
“Under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas, tomorrow’s talks will involve senior directors from Heathrow Airport and senior Unite officials with the aim of averting a second day of planned strike action set to start at 00:01 and finish at 23:59 on Tuesday 6 August.
“Unite will not be making any further comment while talks are ongoing.”
A Heathrow spokesman said: “We will continue talks with Unite tomorrow and we remain hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action.
“Airlines may choose to reinstate impacted flights.
“We regret that passengers have been inconvenienced by this and urge them to contact their airline for up to date information on the status of their service.
“While the vast majority of flights will be unaffected, some airlines are making arrangements to operate flights from other UK airports, others will be delaying flights and unfortunately a number will be cancelled.
“Airlines have now started to contact passengers on affected flights and passengers should contact their airline for more information.
“We recommend passengers check their flight status before travelling to the airport and read the guidance on heathrow.com to prepare for their journey.”
Around 177 flights had been cancelled for Monday and Tuesday causing major disruption for passengers during one of the busiest times of the year.
It is not clear if any of these flights will be reinstated and the airport said passengers should check with their airline.
Members of Unite, who include security staff, firefighters and engineers, voted heavily against a pay offer Heathrow said was worth 7.3% over two-and-a-half years.
(c) Sky News 2019: Heathrow strike suspended to allow more talks in bid to end pay dispute
