Holidaymakers are being warned of potential summer holiday chaos as workers at Edinburgh Airport are being balloted to strike. Unite Scotland says around 275 members are considering industrial action in the coming months amid a pay row with bosses.
An offer of an 11 percent wage rise with a £1000 cost of living payment was previously rejected by the membership, the Record has been told. Many of the workers involved in the dispute deal with airport security, terminal operations, screening deliveries as well as airside support.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has warned of travel disruption if airport chiefs at Global Infrastructure Partners don’t come up with a better offer. She said: “Unite’s members at Edinburgh Airport made huge sacrifices during the Covid pandemic. They agreed to reductions in pay and conditions.
“The workers did all this while working around the clock to keep the airport safe and running. The situation is entirely different now with passenger figures hitting over 11m last year, and inflation stands at a 40-year high.
“Pay needs to keep up with the cost of living - simple. Edinburgh Airport bosses need to make a realistic pay offer to the staff if they are to avoid a summer of travel chaos.”
Carrie Binnie, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite members’ pay in real terms has been cut by around 10 per cent over the last seven years, while £691.9m has flowed out the airport’s coffers in payments made to the parent company GIP, and in dividends to shareholders.
“This simply isn’t fair and our members are prepared to fight for a better deal.” The fallout comes after security workers at Glasgow Airport rejected a five percent offer with Unite warning this mandated the launch of an industrial action ballot.
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “It's disappointing that we are in this situation despite meeting the request of our unions - an 11% pay rise along with a £1,000 cost of living payment.
“We believe this is a fair and competitive offer and one that was asked for by both of our recognised unions through our collective bargaining arrangement. Both said they would recommend the offer to members.
“One union saw overwhelming support for the agreed offer and we cannot understand why Unite campaigned against and rejected the very offer they asked us for.
“We have sought clarity on Unite’s membership numbers given the tight nature of the result where the vote against was carried by less than 1% of the membership, and we have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the ballot and the number of members that voted.
“We hope to resolve these issues at our scheduled ACAS meeting to allow us to deliver the wage rise and cost of living payment that we want to pay our team.”
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