EASYJET passengers can breath a sigh of relief as staff working for the airline at London Stansted have called off the first day of strikes this Thursday. However, if a new pay deal offered is rejected, the planned strikes, which starts Friday, will still go ahead. The 43 staff members involved work on the easyJet […]
EASYJET passengers can breath a sigh of relief as staff working for the airline at London Stansted have called off the first day of strikes this Thursday.
However, if a new pay deal offered is rejected, the planned strikes, which starts Friday, will still go ahead.
The 43 staff members involved work on the easyJet check-in desk and are employed by Stobart.
Their union representatives, Unite, announced a 17-day strike earlier this month, which was due to start on Thursday.
However, the first day of the strikes has now been suspended while staff vote on an improved pay offer.
Unite regional officer Mark Barter said on July 22: “We had positive talks with the company today, under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas, and the outcome was that an improved pay offer has been put on the table.
“This offer will not be revealed until our members have considered and voted on it. The ballot result should be known on Thursday morning.
“To allow this ballot to proceed, we have suspended the 24 hour strike that was due to start at 03.30 on Thursday.”
He added: “However, the strikes on Friday (26 July), Saturday and Sunday and due to end at 03.29 on Monday (29 July) are still scheduled to go ahead, if our members don’t agree the new pay package.
“We are also pleased to announce that the company has now signed a recognition agreement with Unite for trade union collective bargaining purposes, which was a key demand of our members.”
There are also strike dates planned for August and are set to take place August 2 to 5; August 9 to 12; August 16 to 19; and August 23 to 27.
The agents, who are employed by Stobart Aviation Services, voted unanimously for a strike after a ballot earlier this month.
A spokesperson for easyJet told Sun Online Travel: “We are pleased the proposed industrial action by Stobart Aviation check in staff at London Stansted Airport on 25 June has been suspended and that a deal is being balloted.”
A Stobart Group spokesperson previously told Sun Online Travel: “Stobart Aviation Services has, and will continue to engage with Unite and its representatives to reach an agreement on union recognition for our Front of House teams at London Stansted.
“We believe that our active engagement to date has resulted in good progress. We are therefore disappointed to have now received notice of potential action.
“However, we will continue to engage directly with Unite in order to deliver an agreement. We have contingency plans in place to manage the impact on passengers.”
If your flight is cancelled, you have the legal right to either a full refund within seven days or a replacement flight to your destination.
This applies for whatever reason your flight was cancelled or how long before you were told it would no longer be be flying.
If your flight is delayed by three hours or more and you were flying to or from a European airport, or with an EU-based airline such as Ryanair or British Airways.
Then you can claim compensation up to €250 (£229) for short-haul flights and €400 (£367) for mid-haul flights and €600 (£530) for long-haul flights.
But the airline might not payout if it’s out of their control, for example, due to bad weather or strikes.
There are a number of other strikes that could affect Brits this summer.
Ryanair pilots are currently voting on whether or not to strike.
Heathrow Airport workers have also announced strikes for July and August.
