Dispute would affect security staff at Terminal Five and coincides with action in Portugal by easyJet cabin crews.
A potential travel nightmare awaits those flying into and out of Heathrow over the Easter holidays after security guards at one of Europe’s busiest airports confirmed they would be striking for ten days from March 31 to April 9.
The industrial action by the Unite union will involve around 1400 staff and is the latest to hit the travel sector, mainly affecting Terminal Five which is used by British Airways and for cargo flights entering the airport.
The timing of the strike is significant coinciding with the school holidays when thousands of families would be heading on breaks overseas as well as those tourists flying into the UK; bosses at the airport insist that plans will be put in place to keep Heathrow open.
It also comes at the same time as Portuguese staff at easyJet will walk out for three days over their pay dispute – cabin crew at the low-cost airline taking action from April 1-3.
While Heathrow criticised the union for making “unnecessary threats of strike action” after they had offered “an inflation-beating ten per cent increase in pay”, Unite says the workers involved are on “poverty pay” and the offer does not make up for years of pay freezes and cuts.
