Summer travel chaos warning as Edinburgh Airport workers to be balloted on strike action
Passengers could face a summer of travel chaos if Edinburgh Airport workers vote to take strike action in a dispute over pay, a union has warned.
Unite said it will ballot around 275 workers at the airport on walkouts, including members employed in security, terminal operations and search areas.
The union claimed members’ pay has been cut by around 10% in real terms over the last seven years, and said workers are “prepared to fight for a better deal”.
Unite said its members at Edinburgh Airport have rejected an inferior pay offer to one made to staff at Gatwick, where a 12% increase plus a £1,500 one-off cash payment has been accepted by the workforce.
Edinburgh Airport said it had offered an 11% pay rise along with a £1,000 cost of living payment, which it described as “fair and competitive”.
But Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at Edinburgh Airport made huge sacrifices during the COVID pandemic.
“They agreed to reductions in pay and conditions. The workers did all this while working around the clock to keep the airport safe and running.
“The situation is entirely different now with passenger figures hitting over 11 million last year, and inflation stands at a 40-year high.
“Pay needs to keep up with the cost of living – simple.
“Edinburgh Airport bosses need to make a realistic pay offer to the staff if they are to avoid a summer of travel chaos.”
The Unite ballot opens on Friday (5 May) and closes on 23 May.
Read more:
‘Inevitable disruption’ for coronation as 1,400 Heathrow staff strike
NHS strikes: Unions divided over new pay deal
An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said: “It’s disappointing that we are in this situation despite meeting the request of our unions – an 11% pay rise along with a £1,000 cost of living payment.
“We believe this is a fair and competitive offer and one that was asked for by both of our recognised unions through our collective bargaining arrangement. Both said they would recommend the offer to members.
“One union saw overwhelming support for the agreed offer and we cannot understand why Unite campaigned against and rejected the very offer they asked us for.
“We have sought clarity on Unite’s membership numbers given the tight nature of the result, where the vote against was carried by less than 1% of the membership, and we have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the ballot and the number of members that voted.
“We hope to resolve these issues at our scheduled Acas meeting to allow us to deliver the wage rise and cost of living payment that we want to pay our team.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Strikes rumble on in England – with NHS unions split on pay offer
On the comparison to Gatwick, the airport spokesperson added: “We appreciate that the offer being made at Gatwick is a good one, but if we really want to compare this to the offer being made at Edinburgh then it must be taken in context.
“Despite the challenges of COVID this will be the third pay rise given to the team at Edinburgh Airport since 2020. This is the first offer made by Gatwick in the same timeframe.
“This means that the Edinburgh team would have received an overall pay increase of 19.6% over the same time.”
UK
Harshita Brella: Woman found in car boot in Ilford died from strangulation – as CCTV of suspect released
A woman whose body was found in the boot of a car last week died from strangulation, according to a post-mortem examination.
A manhunt is under way for Harshita Brella’s husband, Pankaj Lamba, who police believe has fled the country.
Officers said today that her body was discovered in a silver Vauxhall Corsa.
They believe she was killed on the evening of Sunday 10 November and driven in the early hours from the couple’s home in Corby, Northamptonshire, to Ilford in east London.
The body was found in a Vauxhall Corsa. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
Police believe Pankaj Lamba has fled the UK
It’s understood the 24-year-old had been under the protection of a court order for victims of domestic abuse.
Northamptonshire Police said officers began searching for her after receiving a call with concerns for her welfare on 13 November – the day before she was found dead.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Brella’s preliminary cause of death was strangulation, police said.
New CCTV images of Pankaj Lamba, 23, have also been released as the manhunt continues.
Ms Brella lived in Corby. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
The couple lived at an address in Skegness Walk. Pic: PA
Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell, from the East Midlands major crime unit, said: “We suspect Harshita’s body had been placed in the boot of the vehicle by Lamba before leaving Corby.
“Lamba then abandoned the vehicle in Brisbane Road, Ilford, and made his getaway.”
Northamptonshire Police, the East Midlands major crime unit and the National Crime Agency are working together to try to find him.
New CCTV of the suspect has been released
Pics: Northamptonshire Police
An inquest into Ms Brella’s death will be opened on 20 November at The Guildhall in Northampton.
Anyone who thinks they might have seen Pankaj Lamba is urged to make contact as soon as possible.
“Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation and help us get justice for Harshita,” said DCI Campbell.
People with relevant information can call 101, Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, or online at mipp.police.uk
Zoe Ball is leaving her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after six years.
The 53-year-old, who recently lost her mother to cancer, will present her last show on Friday, 20 December.
Ball leaves Wogan House with her replacement, Scott Mills. Pic: PA
She said she was leaving to focus on family, but will remain part of the Radio 2 team and will give further details next year.
Announcing the news on her Tuesday show, she said: “After six years of fun times alongside you all on the breakfast show, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.
“You know I think the world of you all, listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?
“We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.”
Scott Mills will replace Ball on the breakfast show following her departure next month.
“Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1,” he said.
“She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.”
Hugging outside the BBC building on the day of the announcement, Ball said she was “really chuffed for my mate and really excited about it”.
Ball was the first female host of both the BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows, starting at the Radio 1 breakfast show in 1998, and taking over her current Radio 2 role from Chris Evans in 2020 after he left the show.
She took a break from hosting her show over the summer, returning in September.
Ahead of her stint in radio, Ball – who is the daughter of children’s presenter Johnny Ball – co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine show Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996.
She has two children, Woody and Nelly, with her ex-husband, DJ and musician Norman Cook, known professionally as Fatboy Slim.
Ball said in her announcement her last show towards the end of December will be “just in time for Christmas with plenty of fun and shenanigans”.
“While I’m stepping away from the Breakfast Show, I’m not disappearing entirely – I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the New Year,” she added.
“I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run!”
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first. I’m thrilled that she’ll remain an important part of the Radio 2 family.”
Mills, 51, got his first presenting role aged just 16 for a local station in Hampshire, and went on to present in Bristol and Manchester, before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1998.
He’s previously worked as a cover presenter on Radio 2, but this is his first permanent role on the station.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway