Stansted Airport's Unite union staff to vote on strike over pay which 'could close airport'
Workers at one of the country's busiest airports will vote on strike action after a pay offer was rejected.
The Unite union has warned that the strike would cause major disruption to air travel from Stansted Airport and that the Essex airport may even need to close if the action goes ahead.
More than 1,000 Stansted employees including security officers, cleaners, firefighters, maintenance staff and airport ambassadors are taking part in the ballot which starts on Tuesday.
Staff have already "overwhelmingly" rejected Stansted's offer of a 7.5% pay offer plus a £250 one-off payment, and now have until 19 September to vote on whether to strike or not.
During the pandemic, workers at the airport agreed to a 10% reduction in pay for a year, which was extended at short notice by a further three months.
The Unite union said the pay offer was a real-terms pay cut, as the real rate of inflation is running at 12.3% and expected to continue rising.
Officials also said that executive pay for Manchester Airport Group, which owns Stansted, has risen by 23% - from £2.8m to £12.2m.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Stansted and MAG expected our members to make financial sacrifices during the pandemic and they expect them to do the same thing now during the cost-of-living crisis.
"Everyone is expected to tighten their belts except MAG’s rich executives. Our members won’t stand for it and they will receive Unite’s full support in fighting for a fair pay rise.
"Strike action would cause significant disruption, or could even close the airport, because of the key roles, such as security and firefighting, performed by the workers being balloted."
Unite regional coordinating officer Mark Robinson said: “Our members consider Stansted’s pay offer to fall short of their needs to pay simple household bills. The company, even before the pandemic, had reduced the elements of their remuneration package.
"Passenger numbers are picking up, with Ryanair recently announcing a further 500 flights for Stansted in October.
"It is abundantly clear that the company can afford to invest in its staff and make a substantially improved offer."
A Stansted Airport spokesperson said in a statement: "We were surprised and disappointed to learn Unite had chosen to ballot colleagues for strike action on the grounds they consider our latest pay offer to be unacceptable.
"This is the very same pay offer we agreed with Unite, and which it strongly recommended its members voted in favour of as recently as 20 July.
"We remain fully committed to working with our unions to reach an agreement that recognises the hard work and dedication of our colleagues and maintains the financial stability of the airport after the extreme challenges we faced because of the pandemic and at a time when passenger levels are still measurably lower than they were in 2019.
"At the same time, we will continue to speak directly to all our colleagues – not just those represented by the union – to talk them through the details of what we consider to be a fair and competitive offer, taking account of the severe challenges our sector has faced in recent times."
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