Birmingham Airport staff vote to strike over pay

Technicians and security staff at an airport have voted to strike in a dispute over pay, a union has said.

Unite said members at Birmingham Airport voted on Friday to take industrial action after facing two years of substantial pay cuts.

Birmingham Airport chief executive Nick Barton said passengers "should not be worried" and had no reason to do "anything" about potential disruption.

Services provider Menzies Aviation has been contacted for comment.

Unite regional officer Sulinder Singh urged both organisations to "get back round the table".

"Don't take the West Midlands flying public or your employees for granted," he said.

"There's a discussion to be had."

The union said 75% of members had taken part in the ballot and 95% voted to go on strike.

It said three-quarters of those balloted were security officers, who were "working unsociable shift patterns for as little as £11.50 an hour".

A representative said workers received a 2.8% pay rise in 2022, which, due to the rate of inflation, was considered an 11% pay cut and had recently been offered a 7.75% rise, with an additional one-off £850 payment.

Mr Barton said negations with the union were ongoing and there was still "two phases of a three-phase process".

"Passengers should not be worried," he said.

"We'll inform them as we go along, but no-one at this stage should be doing anything in response to [the strike] message."

He said it was a case of "managing the situation".

"We won't have cancellations," he said.

"We want to get an agreement with the union, and we will do... in a way that's right for the airport, right for our staff and has no effect on our passengers."

A separate ballot for workers who drive fuel tankers and refuel planes at the airport closes on Monday.

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