British Airways Strike Threat Lifted After Ground Staff Take 8% Pay Rise

Strike action at British Airways (BA) over the summer holiday season has been averted after hundreds of ground staff at Heathrow Airport backed an increased pay deal.

Three-quarters of check-in and ground handling workers organized by the GMB trade union voted in favor of a revised offer from BA, which included an eight percent consolidated pay increase, a one-time bonus, and the reinstatement of shift pay.

"No one wanted a summer strike at Heathrow, but our members had to fight for what was right," GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said.

Some 700 members of GMB and fellow union Unite, mostly low-paid female staff, had voted to walk out during the six-week school summer holiday period, when many families take foreign breaks in sunnier climes.

An overwhelming 95 percent of staff backed strike action, with turnout at 81 percent among GMB members and 63 percent for Unite — enough to pass the threshold of 50 percent of all members imposed by labor legislation under former Prime Minister David Cameron's government.

The union said the strike ballot was prompted by BA refusing to reverse a 10 percent pay cut it imposed on them during the COVID-19 lockdown.

With inflation in the UK heading towards a record 10 percent thanks to the lockdown, relief payments to furloughed workers and now sanctions and embargoes on Russian energy imports, strikes have broken out across multiple sectors.