Ground handling staff at London City Airport will ballot on strike action if employer Gatwick Ground Services (GGS) fails to meet their demand for pay parity with fellow workers at Gatwick Airport.
The 120 workers at London City, members of the GMB union, are demanding a 17% pay rise to bring them into line with GGS employees doing the same work as ticketing agents, ramp agents and flight dispatchers at Gatwick.
GGS, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, currently does not even pay its workers at London City the London Living Wage of £13.15 per hour – which is above the national minimum wage of £11.44 because of the cost of living in London.
The GMB has accused the company of “kicking the can” down the road on negotiations in an effort to push the threat of strike action beyond the end of the summer peak.
However, GMB regional organiser Daren Parmenter pointed out London City is busy all year, with business traffic accounting for 90% of the airport’s flights.
GGS took over the airport ground handling contract 16 months ago and initially offered a 3.8% pay increase, which it has since raised to 4%.
That was rejected by 100% of the workforce in a consultative ballot, leading the union to request fresh talks. The company has so far not responded.
Parmenter told Travel Weekly: “Our members are very angry and upset. They work in central London and every other employer at London City pays the London Living Wage. GGS don’t pay anywhere near it.
“They need to uplift our members pay by 17% to be on a par with Gatwick.”
He said the workers “find it unacceptable that colleagues employed at Gatwick in Sussex enjoy much better pay, terms and conditions [when] they incur the extra costs of living and working in the capital. It’s almost impossible for them.”
Parmenter added: “It has been 16 months since their last increase and patience is running thin.”
He warned: “If GGS does not respond we’ll move to a formal dispute and ballot on industrial action that will affect BA flights.
“These are important jobs. It would close the airport if they took strike action.”
If the GMB members go on strike it would be the first major stoppage in the airport’s history.
British Airways, the owner of GGS, is the largest airline operating at London City. Parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) reported a profit after tax of €905 million for the six months to the end of June.