BA staff call off Heathrow strike after agreeing new pay deal

British Airways workers at Heathrow have called off planned strike action after accepting a new pay offer from the airline, unions said on Friday.

The GMB Union, which was representing around 700 staff, said 75% of its members backed the pay deal. BA, owned by IAG, had slashed their pay by 10% during the Covid pandemic and refused to reinstate it.

Workers will now get an 8% pay rise, a one-off bonus and the reinstatement of extra pay for irregular shifts, in what the GMB and Unite unions say is a deal worth 13%.

"No one wanted a summer strike at Heathrow, but our members had to fight for what was right," said GMB national officer, Nadine Houghton.

"Now these mainly women workers have won pay improvements for themselves - as well as forcing BA to make this offer to the rest of their staff too," she added.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the deal was "a great result for our check-in members at British Airways"

"By standing together, they have forced a corporate giant like BA to do the right thing and restore levels of pay slashed in the pandemic."

Thousands of travellers have been hit by airport disruption and flight cancellations in recent weeks affecting the week of the Platinum Jubilee in June and school half-term holidays.

Heathrow recently placed a cap on flights as it has failed to recruit enough staff to replace those fired during the pandemic. Airlines and baggage handling companies are in a similar position, with little-to-no capacity in the labour market due to Brexit.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com