Strikes planned by ground handlers at Heathrow from tomorrow (Friday) have been suspended following last-ditch negotiations between the Unite union and Menzies.
The 72-hour walkout had been confirmed earlier on Thursday, before Unite announced the action would be suspended as a “gesture of goodwill” following an improved pay offer.
The new offer will now be put to a member ballot.
Additional strike action by more than 400 workers which is scheduled to run between December 29 and the early hours of January 1 remains in place pending the ballot result, Unite confirmed.
The dispute involves workers operating from Heathrow terminals 2, 3 and 4.
Unite members earlier rejected a 4% pay rise backdated to May and then a further 6.5% pay increase from January 1, despite the offer being accepted by the GMB union.
Unite was seeking an increase of 13% for 2022 alone, but details of the improved offer have not been confirmed.
Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said: “Unite has been adamant that Menzies was able to offer an improved pay offer and that has proved to be the case.
“As an act of goodwill, the strike action scheduled to begin tomorrow has been suspended so that members can be balloted on the new offer.”
Miguel Gomez Sjunnesson, Menzies Aviation Europe executive vice-president, said: “We are pleased to announce that following a positive meeting today, Unite have postponed the strikes that were planned for this weekend to allow them to take a revised pay offer to their members.
“We are hopeful that this revised offer will be accepted allowing us to give our employees their well-deserved pay increase and we can focus on delivering the best service during this busy holiday period.”
If the offer is not accepted, the post-Christmas strike action will coincide with a planned walkout by Border Force staff.