Summer strike threat at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports

Strike action could hit Scotland's largest airports over the summer after hundreds of ground services crew rejected pay offers.

The union Unite said about 300 workers at Glasgow and a similar number at Edinburgh had turned down two separate offers from their employer Menzies Aviation.

The staff include dispatchers, allocators, flight manifest controllers and airside agents.

Unite warned it could ballot for strike action over the summer holiday period unless better offers were tabled. Menzies Aviation said it was committed to finding a resolution.

Glasgow and Edinburgh airports said they would not comment on the dispute.

Unite said its Glasgow members had rejected a basic uplift worth about 4.25%, while Edinburgh staff had turned down a deal worth about 4%.

Industrial officer Carrie Binnie said: "Summer strike action looms over Edinburgh and Glasgow airports because the pay offers on the table from Menzies Aviation aren't good enough."

"Menzies Aviation has the ability to improve its offers and they can easily resolve this pay dispute without any disruption to the travelling public.

"If the company fail to table a better offer to our members, Unite will have no option but to ballot our members for strikes over the summer holidays."

Phil Lloyd, UK senior vice president at Menzies Aviation, said the company wanted to find a resolution.

He said: "We have invited Unite to return to the table to continue discussions this week and hope to reach an agreement which is workable for both the business and our employees at both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

"We will continue to work to pursue an agreeable solution to protect services for our airline and airport partners and their customers."

Edinburgh had a record 15 million passengers last year, and announced a number of new routes for this year.

Glasgow's figures show it had about 800,000 passengers in each of the months of June, July and August last year.