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Unite gives BAA seven days notice of strike ballot

16 July 2010

Following months of negotiations between Unite, Britain's biggest union, and BAA, the union has no choice but to give the airport operator seven days notice today (16th July) of its intention to hold a strike ballot in a dispute over pay.

BAA staff already accepted a pay freeze in 2009. For this year, the company is only offering staff a one per cent pay increase, plus half a per cent which is conditional on changes to the sickness agreement. The staff were also offered a bonus on condition that BAA met its EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) targets, BAA missed its targets by only three per cent but the company is still refusing to give staff any financial recognition despite the company coming so close to meeting its targets.

The union will ballot 6,185 staff including security staff, engineers, firefighters and support staff at BAA airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

Unite's national officer for civil aviation, Brendan Gold, said: "Unite and BAA have been in talks for months and we are prepared to continue talking. A negotiated agreement can be reached if the company is prepared to be fairer and more realistic.”

"BAA staff have already accepted a pay freeze in 2009 to help the company, but they are not prepared to accept such a paltry offer this year. We will therefore go into this ballot with strong resolve and a determination to demonstrate to BAA that its staff deserve better treatment than they are currently getting."

"BAA missed its earnings target by a tiny three per cent and the company has still refused to give its staff any financial recognition for coming so close. The union understands the difficulties the airline industry is facing but BAA must realise that these airport workers are struggling to make ends meet."

The company informed the union that it had failed to meet its EBITDA target of £1.2 billion by three per cent, so would not pay the £450 agreed as part of the 2009 settlement and there would be no airport bonus which is normally payable each summer and worth £700 to BAA staff.

The strike ballot will open on Friday 23 July and will close on 12 August.

ENDS