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January Strike Action To Hit Travel Plans

24th December 2007 Thousands of workers at seven of Britain's busiest airports have voted to strike in a dispute over pensions, their union said on Friday. The strike will affect Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports.

The Unite union said its members will walk out next month in protest at the closure to new employees of the final salary-linked pension scheme of airport operator BAA. Unite's National Aviation Secretary Brendan Gold said the strike could close all seven airports. "There will be huge disruption," he told a news conference.

Union members will stage three strikes: two 24-hour walkouts starting at 0600 GMT on January 7 and January 14 and a further 48-hour strike from 0600 GMT on January 17. The union's members include fire crews, maintenance workers, clerical staff and security staff.

BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, said it regretted the action and would do all it could to minimize disruption to passengers.

In a separate action, Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to cancel three flights a day if cabin crew go ahead with two 48-hour strikes in January.

More than 3,000 staff are due to strike on January 9-10 and January 16-17 following a ballot, after rejecting the airline’s pay offer.

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