Red Handling strike at Gatwick suspended for a week

Strike action by Red Handling workers at Gatwick airport over late and missing pension payments has been suspended for a week following negotiations between Unite and the company, the union announced on Wednesday (May 7).

More than 100 workers at Red Handling – who work in areas including baggage handling, check-in and flight dispatching – were set to walk out on Sunday (May 11).

However, this strike date has been called off following negotiations between Unite and Red Handling, which has been given a deadline of Saturday (May 10) to “fix the pensions issue including paying any missing funds”, said a union statement.

The remaining days of strike action on May 18, May 25 and June 1 are still due to go ahead pending the outcome of any further negotiations.

Unite regional officer David Taylor said: "Unite has been in discussions with Red Handling and as a goodwill gesture and to allow them an opportunity to solve the problems with pensions we have suspended strike action on Sunday.

“We are calling on Red Handling to stick to their promise to avoid any further industrial action.”

Red Handling works for airlines including Norwegian, Delta and TAP.

A separate series of strikes by refuellers at Gatwick, who work for Redline Oil Services Ltd, are still currently planned to go ahead, with the Unite members taking action on May 16-20 and May 23-27.

The workers voted to strike after rejecting a two-year deal which would be 4.25% this year and 3% next year and seeing the sickness pay waiting period reduced from three days to two.

The workers were then offered a one-year deal of 4.25% for this year which they have also rejected.

More: Gatwick faces double strike disruption threat