Tuesday’s walkout by Heathrow airport staff has been suspended to allow workers to vote on an improved pay deal, the union Unite announced this afternoon.
The strike would have seen more than 4,000 Heathrow workers, including security officers, firefighters and engineers, walk out from one minute past midnight tomorrow for 24 hours.
Further strikes at Heathrow are still planned for Friday 23 and Saturday 24 August, the beginning of the busy August bank holiday travel weekend.
Tomorrow’s strike was originally part of a two-day strike due to take place on Monday and Tuesday, which would have hit thousands of passengers getting away for summer.
Unite called off Monday’s strike late on Sunday to allow for further talks.
Unite said today it would not reveal the details of the pay offer until its members had the chance to consider and vote on the package.
The row focuses on pay. Unite says staff are not fairly rewarded and that Heathrow’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, earns in two days what some of the lowest paid airport workers earn in a year.
Heathrow says the pay package on offer to staff is above inflation, competitive and fair, and that the airport “remains committed to finding a solution with Unite to avoid further strike action”.
A handful of flights have already been cancelled for tomorrow, including on Aeroflot from and to Moscow; LOT Polish Airlines from and to Warsaw; on Alitalia to Milan; Brussels Airlines to Brussels; Eurowings to Berlin and Hamburg; and two Flybe services to Edinburgh.
A total of 46 flights in and out of Heathrow on Monday were grounded, or moved to Gatwick.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Unite has chosen to postpone its strike action on Tuesday 6 August. Strike action on 23 and 24 August is still scheduled to go ahead.
“Unite will now take an improved offer to its members and we remain hopeful that we can find a resolution and stop this disruptive and unnecessary threat of strike action. 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.”
