TRAVEL CHAOS
Holiday warning as 1,000 Gatwick Airport workers to strike for 8 days starting this month – how will you be affected?
A HOLIDAY warning has been issued as 1,000 airport workers prepare to strike this month.
It has today been announced that staff at Gatwick Airport, including baggage handlers and check-in workers, will walk out for eight days.
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The Union Unite announced the plans today, saying the strikes will take place later this month.
Members of Unite employed by four private contractors will walk out for four days from July 28 and again for four days from August 4.
The union said the action will "inevitably" cause disruption to flights at the height of the summer holiday season.
Analytic website Cirium said as many as 4,410 flights are due to depart Gatwick Airport during the strike, working out to 840,000 passengers.
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Those involved in the dispute are employed by ASC, Menzies Aviation, GGS and DHL Services, which conduct outsourced operations for airlines including ground handling, baggage handling, ramp agent, dispatchers, and check-in.
Unite said it has been in negotiations with the four companies since January but claimed they have failed to make offers that meets the workers' expectations.
The union's general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Our members at Gatwick Airport undertake incredibly demanding roles and are essential to keeping the airport and airlines working, yet their employers somehow think it is acceptable to pay them a pittance.
"As part of Unite's unyielding focus on the jobs, pay and condition of its members, the union has drawn a line in the sand and is committed to eradicating the scourge of low pay at the airport."
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The walkouts will threaten a summer of travel chaos with passengers likely to face heavy disruption.
Other strikes are set to cause travel chaos for British holidaymakers this summer.
Thousands of flights were set to be impacted as air traffic controllers in France and Italy stage walkouts.
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