The threat of a strike by workers at six UK airports has been called off after a late-night agreement was reached over pay. The Unite union and the airports’ operator BAA agreed a “basis for settlement” after a day of talks. Union members at Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen had voted for strike…
BAA strike called off in late night deal
The threat of a strike by workers at six UK airports has been called off after a late-night agreement was reached over pay.
The Unite union and the airports’ operator BAA agreed a “basis for settlement” after a day of talks.
Union members at Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen had voted for strike action by three to one in a ballot, the results of which were revealed on Thursday.
“We are pleased to report that a basis for settlement has been agreed,” Acas chief conciliator Peter Harwood said.
Unite union national aviation secretary Brendan Gold said: “We’ve reached a settlement which we’re prepared to present to our members. We’ll present a ballot to them in the next couple of days.
“We’re pleased to be able to reassure the travelling public that we’ve worked hard from our side to achieve a settlement.”
This process will take another three weeks. Neither side would reveal details of the offer, but Unite said it was “much improved”.
The August bank holiday walk-outs would have halted 2,500 flights a day and hit more than 200,000 passengers.
