Prestwick Airport workers suspend strike after 'productive' talks.
Strikes were due to begin tomorrow, but a new pay offer has been brought to the table. If rejected strikes commence August 12.
Last updated 4th Aug 2022
Strikes which were due to begin at Prestwick Airport tomorrow have now been suspended following ‘productive’ talks with bosses.
Strikes delayed
Workers from Prestwick Airport who are Unite the Union members were all set for a series of disruptive action to go ahead tomorrow, but they’ve now stated the strikes will be cancelled until August 12th.
They say a productive meeting has lead to a new pay offer.
A statement by Unite Scotland said: “Thanks to everyone supporting & sharing our message, we can confirm that a productive meeting today has led to a new offer.
“We will put this to members in a new ballot, and to enable talks to continue, we have cancelled strike action until Friday 12th August.”
Previous offer 'completely unacceptable'
Strikes were set to be held for 4-weeks on every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The Union voted in favour of action on July 20th after rejecting what they described as a ‘completley unacceptable’ pay offer from airport bosses.
The offer put on the table according to airport bosses was 70% of 300 employees receiving a pay increase of 6.5% or above, improvements to allowances, increased annual leave entitlement, enhanced sick pay provisions, and up to 2% more employer pension contributions.
Unite the Union were requesting the airport's management to pay shift allowance and to meet the Real Living Wage rate of £9.90 for the lowest paid and new starters.
The requested offer would help workers keep up with inflation rates during the cost of living crisis according to members.
However, after voting for action last month, industrial officer for Unite Siobhan McCready told Clyde 1 that management had ‘ignored their requests’ at every turn.
READ MORE: Glasgow Prestwick airport workers vote in favour of strike action
There was concern that the disruption would have a damning effect on holiday goers, but in a video posted by the union, they stated walk outs would be after 6am to allow the morning rush to see off travellers.
Should the new offer be rejected by workers, the strikes will go ahead the following Friday.
It will include airport security, firefighters, airfield operators, ground crew, ground handling, cargo, customer services, and cleaners.
The airport was taken into public ownership in November 2013 after it was bought by the Scottish Government for £1.
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