Last-ditch talks aimed at averting a series of strikes that could leave more than a million passengers stranded over Christmas were under way last night after workers at seven airports voted to reject a pay deal.
Firefighters, engineers and security staff belonging to the Transport and General Workers union voted by two to one against an improved pay offer by the British Airports Authority, leaving the way open for a series of one-day strikes.
Bill Morris, general secretary of the T&G, said he remained "mildly optimistic" that industrial action could be avoided, but warned that if the talks failed notice would be given of strike action. "The company's offer has been overwhelmingly rejected," he said. "That rejection reflects the determination of our members to secure just reward for the added responsibilities they have had since September 11."
Strikes had provisionally been planned for December 15 and 23 and January 2. Mr Morris said if no agreement could be reached they would issue new dates for industrial action.
It is a legal requirement to have a 24-hour fire service and security at airports, so a strike would almost certainly result in a severely restricted service and possibly closure of the seven airports involved, in cluding Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
More than 300,000 passengers a day pass through the airports during the run-up to Christmas, and industry analysts said that strikes over the festive period would cause chaos. In a separate ballot members of the Amicus union yesterday voted by 363 to 259 to accept the deal.
BAA's deputy chief executive, Mike Clasper, said: "Only one of our unions has rejected our offer, the other three voted to accept it. Our offer is a significantly improved pay deal worth, on average, over 7% on basic pay over two years. This was a reasonable offer to staff who are already well paid."
He added that BAA had consistently provided competitive terms and conditions of employment and described the current offer as well above the industry's average.
A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents urged the union to hold off any strikes at least until after the Christmas holidays. "It is totally unfair on families," Keith Betton, head of corporate affairs at Abta, said. BAA advised passengers who wanted information to contact their airlines or visit baa.com/strike.
