MORE strikes have been announced at Heathrow this month that will ‘significantly disrupt’ thousands of family holidays.
Employees at Heathrow’s Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) fueling company are threatening to leave for three days.
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The strikes last from July 21-24, affecting the first weekend of the summer holidays and millions of passengers traveling abroad.
More than 70 airlines, including Virgin, Delta and KLM, are expected to be affected as the Union fights to end its three-year pay freeze with a double-digit pay rise.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “AFS must offer its workers a decent raise.
“Oil and gas companies make huge profits, so AFS has the resources to make a reasonable offer. AFS workers have taken wage cuts for three years, so it’s time for AFS to reward their victims.
“Our members at AFS will have Unite’s full support until this dispute is resolved and workers receive a decent wage increase.”
And Unite’s regional officer Kevin Hall said it will cause “significant disruption” across Heathrow.
A Heathrow Airport spokesman said of the AFS strike: “We are in discussions with our airline partners about what contingency plans they can implement, including using other fuel suppliers already operating at the airport.”
It comes just days after thousands of passengers were thrown into chaos and stranded at Heathrow as staff struggled with a fuel system failure.
And strikes are expected to cause widespread travel chaos again this summer.
EasyJet has already gone on strike this month, with further strikes scheduled to take place between the 15th and 17th and finally between the 29th and 31st.
British Airways check-in and ground staff, who are affiliated with the GMB and Unite unions, will line up on pay as early as July 8.
Holidaymakers are being urged to be cautious when buying travel insurance as new research shows four in 10 policies do not offer protection against strike-related cancellations.
And it’s not just strikes that are causing problems – travelers are already feeling the strains of a widespread workforce crisis.
British Airways has canceled a further 1,500 flights this summer, on top of the previously planned 16,000 flight cancellations through October.
EasyJet warned another 10,000 could be cut this summer.
And Lufthansa, which initially said it would cut 900 flights this summer, said it would cut another 2,200.
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