In addition to the problems of international tourism associated with viruses and the geopolitical situation in the world, travelers have another reason to worry: British Airways employees may go on strike during the height of the holiday season. This has already been warned by the British-Irish transport union Unite the Union.
Airports have effectively buckled under the weight of a chronic staffing shortage that has led to huge queues, delays, and flight cancellations across the UK in recent weeks.
Now a group of British Airways employees working at the check-in counters at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) are set to vote to collectively stay out of work during the high holiday season in July due to pay problems.
The main problem is that BA restored the salaries of department heads to the level of 2019, but refused to return some of the staff cut during the coronavirus. Passenger traffic, meanwhile, has skyrocketed in recent weeks.
Voting, which involves about 500 employees, will begin on June 7th and end on June 27th.
“British Airways has used the COVID-19 cover-up to brutally cut the wages of its workers. Now wages have been returned, but only to managers. Ordinary members receive “coronavirus” pennies. Unite the Union will not allow our members to be treated like second-class labor.”
“If workers vote for a strike, we will go on strike in July, when the highest demand for air tickets is expected. Union members are furious and ready to go to extremes. The strike will have an immediate impact on customer service, so I urge BA to pull themselves together and immediately restore the wages of these workers.”
If this continues, the strike could exacerbate unrest and chaos at airports across the UK ahead of the holidays.
Just the day before, on June 1, the flag carrier airline canceled more than 100 flights, affecting both domestic and international passengers, although most flights were canceled in advance.