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Passengers might face a summer time of journey chaos if Edinburgh Airport employees vote to take strike motion in a dispute over pay, a union has warned.
Unite stated it’ll poll round 275 employees on the airport on walkouts, together with members employed in safety, terminal operations and search areas.
The union claimed members’ pay has been lower by round 10% in actual phrases over the past seven years, and stated employees are “ready to combat for a greater deal”.
Unite stated its members at Edinburgh Airport have rejected an inferior pay provide to 1 made to workers at Gatwick, the place a 12% enhance plus a £1,500 one-off money fee has been accepted by the workforce.
Edinburgh Airport stated it had supplied an 11% pay rise together with a £1,000 price of residing fee, which it described as “honest and aggressive”.
However Unite common secretary Sharon Graham stated: “Unite’s members at Edinburgh Airport made enormous sacrifices through the COVID pandemic.
“They agreed to reductions in pay and circumstances. The employees did all this whereas working across the clock to maintain the airport secure and operating.
“The scenario is solely totally different now with passenger figures hitting over 11 million final yr, and inflation stands at a 40-year excessive.
“Pay must sustain with the price of residing – easy.
“Edinburgh Airport bosses have to make a practical pay provide to the workers if they’re to keep away from a summer time of journey chaos.”
The Unite poll opens on Friday (5 Might) and closes on 23 Might.
Learn extra:
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An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson stated: “It is disappointing that we’re on this scenario regardless of assembly the request of our unions – an 11% pay rise together with a £1,000 price of residing fee.
“We consider this can be a honest and aggressive provide and one which was requested for by each of our recognised unions by our collective bargaining association. Each stated they’d suggest the provide to members.
“One union noticed overwhelming assist for the agreed provide and we can’t perceive why Unite campaigned towards and rejected the very provide they requested us for.
“We now have sought readability on Unite’s membership numbers given the tight nature of the end result, the place the vote towards was carried by lower than 1% of the membership, and we have now raised critical issues concerning the integrity of the poll and the variety of members that voted.
“We hope to resolve these points at our scheduled Acas assembly to permit us to ship the wage rise and value of residing fee that we wish to pay our workforce.”
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On the comparability to Gatwick, the airport spokesperson added: “We respect that the provide being made at Gatwick is an effective one, but when we actually wish to examine this to the provide being made at Edinburgh then it should be taken in context.
“Regardless of the challenges of COVID this would be the third pay rise given to the workforce at Edinburgh Airport since 2020. That is the primary provide made by Gatwick in the identical timeframe.
“Which means that the Edinburgh workforce would have obtained an general pay enhance of 19.6% over the identical time.”
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