Pre-Christmas woes: Heathrow baggage handlers to strike from 16th December

A 72-hour strike action by Heathrow’s baggage handlers will be affecting terminals two, three, and four, the last of which Air Malta flights operate from. The strike, which is starting on 16th December, is taking place due to baggage handlers not receiving a similar pay offer cargo workers received.

During that period there are 10 flights shared between Malta and Heathrow, therefore potentially disrupting plans for up to 1,800 travellers planning to visit their families or go on vacation this Christmas season.

‘The Menzies ground handlers have been offered a flat rate increase which for all the workforce amounts to a real terms pay cut while the real inflation rate (RPI) currently stands at 14.2 per cent,” a Unite union representing the 350 ground-handling workers employed by Menzies Aviation told the BBC.

This strike was not the first of its kind in recent weeks, as a similar one took place earlier in November right before the World Cup started this year. The union is claiming that they have not yet received a fair pay offer in light of the rising cost of living, and it highlighted how cargo workers employed by the same company less than a kilometre away at Heathrow were offered a 9.5 per cent pay increase backdated to May 2022 and a further one per cent from January 2023.