Another UK airport announces summer holiday strike – adding to travel chaos
ANOTHER strike is planned for a UK airport this summer - adding to the chaos that has affected hundreds of thousands of passengers already.
Staff at Glasgow Prestwick airport have voted to walkout following a pay dispute.
A whole host of workers are due to take part, including airport security, firefighters, airfield operators, ground crew, ground handling, cargo customer service workers and cleaners.
Union members are striking after they rejected a 6.5 per cent pay increase, requesting the Scottish "Real Living Wage" of £9.90 an hour instead.
But airport bosses have said fewer than 18 per cent of workers voted in favour of the strike, and claimed most were happy with the pay offer.
There are no set dates for the strike, with hopes the involved parties will resolve the dispute before any walkouts.
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Glasgow airport told Sun Online Travel that the strike would take place at the end of August at the earliest.
They said: "No timeline has been set from the union as of yet. It needs to be at least six weeks from today."
An airport spokesperson told the that they were disappointed with the decision to strike.
They said: "It is denying the majority of our workforce a pay deal which will see 70 per cent of our 300 employees receiving a pay increase of 6.5 per cent or above, improvements to allowances, increased annual leave entitlement, enhanced sick pay provisions, and up to two per cent more employer pension contributions."
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The new Glasgow strike comes amid a summer of industrial action across the travel industry, with Heathrow set for three days of strikes this week.
Refuellers have planned the walkout from tomorrow until Sunday to coincide with the start of the school summer holidays to cause maximum disruption.
Meanwhile Ryanair staff are currently on strike in Spain.
Another wave of strikes is also planned for Monday - Thursday next week, as part of an ongoing argument over pay.
The strikes will affect ten Spanish airports, including Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza.
EasyJet staff are also planning a strike next week, from July 29 till July 31.
Amongst the airports affected are Barcelona's El Prat, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.
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Chaos has been widespread at airports this summer, with Heathrow capping outgoing passenger numbers due to staff shortages.
Gatwick has also had lots of flights cancelled, as well as lengthy delays.
