Airport staff vote in favour of strike action

Firefighters and security guards at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick have voted to strike in a dispute over pay.

Around 2,500 workers employed by the British Airports Authority voted by 2-1 in favour of walkouts in protest at a pay offer of 1.7% plus £150. The Transport and General Workers Union said the vote showed the "sheer frustration" of workers at the company's offer.

Workers involved in the pay dispute include firefighters, security guards and support staff at seven airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Tim Lyle, the union's national secretary for aviation, said workloads had increased at airports since the September 11 terrorist outrage.

"Coupled with the knowledge that traffic figures have improved and the company is in profit, our members justifiably feel that the pay offer falls short of what they deserve," he said. Union officials plan to meet on Monday to plan the industrial action.

The TGWU said the rejected offer was worth 1.7% from last April, plus £150, then a further £150 from next January followed by an increase of the rate of inflation plus 1% from April 2003.

BAA maintained that the offer was worth 6.3% over two years.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "We have good relations with our unions and workforce and despite having reached agreement with the trade union representatives over this year's pay review, two of the unions (TGWU and Amicus) membership have voted to reject the offer.

"We will be holding further discussions to understand and resolve the issue."

The airport firefighters are not involved in the national firefighters dispute and were expected to work normally in the event of any industrial action called by the Fire Brigades Union.