Heathrow faces a “summer of strife” according to trade union Unite after a survey of security staff at the airport revealed one in three plan to leave within six months.
Security staff at Heathrow Terminal 5 are currently on strike in pursuit of a pay claim. The 10-day strike, due to end on Easter Sunday (April 9), has forced British Airways to cancel 32 flights a day for its duration but so far appears to have caused less disruption than expected.
However, Unite now warns Heathrow faces “a shock exodus” of security staff following a survey of more than 750 of its members.
It found one in three plan to leave their jobs in the next six months and almost half were unsure whether they would continue to work at Heathrow due to low pay and an “onerous working environment”.
More than eight out of ten security staff respondents said they are worse off than a year ago, one in four reported having cut back on essentials, and one in six reported being “deeper in debt”.
At the same time, two out of three reported being verbally abused by passengers, nine out of ten said irregular shift patterns left them permanently tired and one in three reported constant shift work had adversely affected their health and family life.
The union points out an exodus of staff would threaten a return of the capacity problems Heathrow suffered last year which led the airport to cap passenger numbers at 100,000 a day in peak summer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The treatment of security guards at Heathrow is leading to their mass exodus. This survey reveals many have had enough of gruelling shift work for low pay and are planning to leave.”
She argued: “Heathrow can well afford to put forward a satisfactory pay offer to our members and this survey demonstrates that it is in the airport’s interests to do so.”
Unite argues real average wages at Heathrow have fallen by 27% since 2017, after the airport cut pay during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It points out security staff are paid a basic salary of £26,000 and a £4,000 shift allowance.
By contrast, the union notes the pay of chief executive John Holland-Kaye rose from £800,000 to £1.5 million between 2020 and 2021, and the airport’s holding company has paid out more than £2 billion in shareholder dividends in recent years.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Our contingency plans have kept the airport operating normally with security free flowing throughout.
“We will continue to deliver for our passengers and will not let Unite ruin hard-earned holidays.
“Heathrow is a good employer. We know a majority of colleagues do not support these strikes and want to accept the 10% pay increase on the table – Unite simply refuses to allow them to vote on it.”