Humberside Airport workers to vote on industrial action

Workers at Humberside Airport are to vote on strike action after rejecting a pay offer, a union has said.

Members of Unison, including security staff, firefighters and cleaners, will be balloted at the airport in North Lincolnshire over the next two weeks.

The union said its members at the site "were paid significantly lower than their counterparts" at Manchester and Leeds Bradford airports.

Humberside Airport said it was "disappointed at this response".

Unison said staff earning around £21,000 had been offered an 8.4% increase, while those earning around £27,000 were offered a rise of 6.5%, and a 5.1% increase was offered to workers earning around £35,000.

George Ayre, the union's regional organiser, said: "This vote by members shows they still don't feel valued by their employer.

"Air traffic controllers were paid a higher unconsolidated payment, which, to our members, suggests their work is not as valued as those working in air traffic control.

"A higher pay offer would not only be an investment in staff, but an investment in Humberside Airport overall," he added.

If approved by Unison members at the airport, any strike action was likely to take place in the autumn, the union said.

A spokesperson for Humberside Airport said: "We are disappointed at this response, particularly after Unison advised members to accept this offer.

"We have yet to be formally advised of any ballot to strike and we hope Unison will continue talks about resolving this issue and avoiding unnecessary disruption to Humberside passengers."

Humberside Airport is located near the village of Kirmington.

There are daily flights from there to Amsterdam, as well as a number of seasonal routes to holiday destinations.

An average of around 200,000 passengers used the airport annually before the Covid lockdowns.

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