Gatwick strike vote

Unite members at Gatwick Airport who are employed in assisting passengers with reduced mobility will this week begin voting for strike action in a dispute over pay.

The staff, who are employed by OCS Group UK, believe they have been left with no option after pay talks – which have been ongoing for 12 months – failed to produce a realistic offer.

“OCS doesn’t seem serious about settling this dispute,” said Jamie Major, Unite regional officer.

Smoke and mirrors

“At the last meeting management gave four separate options, none of which represented an improved offer in real terms. OCS was simply manipulating figures to rob better paid staff to fund workers on poverty pay. This was smoke and mirrors not meaningful negotiations,” he added.

The majority of the workers are paid just ÂŁ7.65 an hour. One of the offers made by OCS would see workers receive an increase of just 5 pence per hour from April 2017.

“It is entirely unacceptable that OCS think it can get away with paying poverty pay to dedicated workers committed to assisting disabled and reduced mobility passengers,” said Jamie.

“Unite will not allow our members to be treated with casual contempt,” he added.

Three separate pay offers from management have been rejected with workers voting by over 90 per cent against the offer on each occasion.

Unite’s membership has more than doubled since the pay row began and is growing rapidly. Unite currently has 200 members with the company. At its busiest the workers assist over 3,000 disabled and reduced mobility passengers a day.

 

“Unite is lobbying Gatwick Airport to take the moral high ground and become the first UK airport to become a genuine living wage employer and pay the real living wage,” said Jamie.

The ballot opens on Thursday 23 February and closes on Thursday 9 March. Unite is expecting to call members out on significant strike action, if members back strike action in the ballot.