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Stansted Baggage Handlers To Strike On Good Friday, GMB Union Announces

Huffington Post UK/PA  |  By   |  Posted: 29/03/2012 15:23 Updated: 29/03/2012 15:59

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Baa Stanstead
Baggage handlers will strike at Stansted Airport on Good Friday

Baggage handlers at Stansted Airport are to strike over Easter in a row over pay, the GMB union announced.

The move follows an overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action by 150 GMB members employed by Swissport after the union claimed that shift changes would lead to wage cuts of up to £1,000.

The GMB said strikes will be held on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday, threatening disruption to passengers flying on holiday for the holiday break.

A statement from the union said the company was "refusing to listen so far": "I have notified Swissport of the ballot result and I have asked them for more talks to try to avert action over these pay cuts.

"Swissport claim they have lost work on the Ryanair contact at the airport. GMB baggage handlers have seen no evidence of this. Swissport also claim that they are losing money on the contract. GMB has asked to see the evidence to confirm this but Swissport have refused to comply leading members to question if what they are being told is true.

"GMB members consider that Swissport is attempting to make savings at their expense and they are not willing to agree to this. Unless there is urgent talks and a settlement this vote for action this will result in disruption over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The travelling public need to be aware that it has been this aggressive move by Swissport to cut our members pay at a time of high inflation that has led to this strike vote. If the strike goes ahead Swissport is entirely to blame for the disruption.”

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Baggage handlers at Stansted Airport are to strike over Easter in a row over pay, the GMB union announced. The move follows an overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action by 150 GMB members em...
Baggage handlers at Stansted Airport are to strike over Easter in a row over pay, the GMB union announced. The move follows an overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action by 150 GMB members em...
 
 
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Mickey Mouse 1
There are no lies or deceit on a chess board.
180 Fans
11:28 PM on 03/29/2012
The government and MP's would be stuffed if taxpayers went on strike!
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lawblynn
38 Fans
10:54 PM on 03/29/2012
Typical no mark union and union members hitting at the first holiday weekend of the year. It is fast becoming time when all trade unions were dis-banded and outlawed, all they do is provide an opportunity for a few to hold to ransom the rest of the nation. 2000 tanker drivers threatening to bring the country to a standstill what a joke in the current decade and a fragile ecomony due entirely to the last labour government who were paid by guess who----- that's right the unions. All dinosaur hypercrites.
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Evertrue
43 Fans
10:21 PM on 03/29/2012
The usual......happy socialist's day........

Unions......only think of THEIR members.......no one else ........ EVER!
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esso man
66 Fans
11:00 PM on 03/29/2012
that might be true! BUT have YOU ever thought what a £1000.00 pay deduction would do for YOUR finances & to YOUR families life syle,that amount if applied to me,would mean a dramatic change in the way we live,even possibly having to move out of my home of 24 years & into a small flat or the like,Im not one normally for supporting strikes,BUT if this report & its contents are true & at the moment have seen NOTHING to prove different,whilst I can completely understand passengers anger,I am in favour of this "THREAT" whether it does actually come to fruiction is another thing !! as if the company can provide 100% proof of their loses are due to the lost contracts,then another option should be considered by "BOTH" sides !!
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Real Change Not Farce
60 Fans
09:08 PM on 03/29/2012
If it was not for unions people would not be worried about flying off at easter, its only 100 years ago christmas was half a day, new years day did not come in till the 70's in England. Holiday intitlement was a week a year not so long ago. And how did these changes happen s union pressure. An extra day this year, one extra day in a life time of work and employers are already crying about lost output. So if left to employers how many days do you think you would get.
The goverment are trying to erode our rights at work one by making it easy to sack people, and qualification for full employment rights to two years, meaning you can be sacked with no come back or redundancy pay. Who's fighting that the unions and every employed man and women should hope they succeed, I saw many a good worker thrown out rather than be made permanent after 1year and 11 months in the 80's.
The Tory goverment and right wing press will knock unions, as the unions enforce the employers to be fair and manage properly.
I as a manager would sooner manage in a union enviroment, working with the unions to improve working practices and production and they give a voice to the man doing the task.
Give me a trained shop steward to talk to than a factory full of bar room lawyers any day, together we make more progress.
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Daalekuk
2 Fans
12:37 PM on 03/30/2012
If your comments were made 50 years ago, I could understand them. Sady, like a lot of things, the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. Extreme union activity destroyed the UK docks, the British car industry and restrictive practices continue to plague public sector organisations. As someone who had some 30 years successful relationships with union officials both in Europe and the US, I find the quality of union officials here to be Dickensian. Other coutries seem to have found a way to employ educated, balanced and informed union officials who realise that compromise is at the centre of mutually successful outcomes. In this country, we seem to get the loud mouthed bully boy types who get to their positions by confrontation, 2 jags being a prime example.
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Real Change Not Farce
60 Fans
01:25 PM on 03/30/2012
The pendulum swung to far in the 70's agreed, but it as now swung back the other way. As for bully boys in unions I have not come across them in negotiation or in day to day running of companies I have been at. I had one bully of an MD at one company I was working, he's now out of business could not get any skilled people to do his work.
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brianmarlow8
0 Fans
09:03 PM on 03/29/2012
indiand asians do it every year. why dont they do it on there religiose holidays
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MELkay
34 Fans
07:57 PM on 03/29/2012
WE SEEM TO GO BACKWARDS IN THIS COUNTRY. UNION LEADERS HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING FOR THERE INFLATED WAGES.
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jimbraid1
100 Fans
07:40 PM on 03/29/2012
We are sorry if this inconveniences the travelling public - yeah right !. Sack the lot of them.
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Flying V
0 Fans
11:26 PM on 03/29/2012
Ok Jeremy Clarkson!
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esso man
66 Fans
11:43 PM on 03/29/2012
please read my reply to "real change not farce" then you might just understand other peoples situations other than your own blinkered ideas !!
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knowlsey
15 Fans
07:38 PM on 03/29/2012
inconsiderate gits do this on purpose evrytime a holiday period is due for maximum effect
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photo
Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
07:45 PM on 03/29/2012
I'm going to be really inconsiderate- I will stop at home this Easter.
Why don't we all do the same- then they would have no job to go back to!
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esso man
66 Fans
02:20 AM on 03/30/2012
well im lucky !! being retired i go any time OTHER than public holidays "SO THERE!!!" sorry could not resist"""
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esso man
66 Fans
11:47 PM on 03/29/2012
read my reply to "jimbraid 1" you also might just learn that it is not only yourself that matters but others as well !!
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Norman Mitchison
92 Fans
 
07:25 PM on 03/29/2012
Unions don`t do the selves any good by crippling the public, as the latter blame them and not the government.
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esso man
66 Fans
11:50 PM on 03/29/2012
its not the government that is causing this strike but the company themselves who are refusing to prove to their employees that a £1000.00 reduction in their wages is the only way the company can survive !! they are taking the easy option not a sensible one !!
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railroaders70117
0 Fans
07:02 PM on 03/29/2012
If they really really feel they need to demonstrate there feelings, why do they not work , but donate the money they earn on a strike day say to Help The Hero's , the public I think would have more respect for them. Strikes are a thing of the past , and do not effect the people they are trying to influence.
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esso man
66 Fans
11:56 PM on 03/29/2012
simply because thats not the point ! they need to show an arrogant company that a £1000.00 wage reduction is NOT the way out of their problems,by working the company will not learn the lesson that is being shown !!
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staridler
28 Fans
06:59 PM on 03/29/2012
instead of blaming the unions how about having a go @ the firms that are ripping of staff with no breaks low wages and general poor conditions > its not right to say leave the job cuase someone else wants it> workers rights need to be protected
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brianmarlow8
0 Fans
09:05 PM on 03/29/2012
its still a job
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bellsheil
35 Fans
05:54 PM on 03/29/2012
Do unions spend their time trying to work out to make life as miserable as possible for the rest of the population? "Hey brothers, I've an idea. That family has saved up all year for a 4 day holiday. Let's have some fun and make sure they have a miserable time queueing and sleeping on an airport floor. That would be a laugh."
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Dozy Rosy
13 Fans
06:28 PM on 03/29/2012
Absolutely correct. Unions calling for more money to work during the Olympic Games; tanker drivers seeking better pay and conditions etc; etc; Their aim is to cause social disruption which they will find a way to blame the Government for (not that they need any additional criticism)
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esso man
66 Fans
12:11 AM on 03/30/2012
all I can say to all of you that are complaining is how would you feel if you were told that your wages were going to be reduced by £1000.00 may be your one of the lucky ones that £1000.00 would not make any difference,these people do not earn as much as the company would love you to believe,as I happen to know one that works for them,he states that its only the overtime that brings their money to a liveable wage !! ALTHOUGH I do feel for those whose holidays could possibly be ruined but at the moment it is ONLY A THREAT !! not definate,
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cadcamcreations
20 Fans
06:34 PM on 03/29/2012
Hi Bellsheil I work with you, I told the boss that you don't mind a £1000 pay cut, he was very pleased...
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bellsheil
35 Fans
07:04 PM on 03/29/2012
I still say teachers should set a better example to their pupils by looking tidy in class as their pupils are expected to do. Hair that looks as if you have just got out of bed and bare shoulders won't do - and that's just the men!
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bellsheil
35 Fans
07:14 PM on 03/29/2012
It is the timing of strikes that is really at issue. Cause as much misery to the general public as possible. That seems to be the aim. And it is usually families and individuals who earn far less than the strikers that suffer most. It is nasty and vindictive to strike at holiday time, but it is the union bosses who decide when to call a strike and they earn huge salaries, so what would they care?
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thedrainpig
25 Fans
05:23 PM on 03/29/2012
More bullying by a lowlife Union. This will cost the GMB, and the other unions, a great deal more in the long term when union and strike ballot legislation are tightened up to the point where their power is eroded awaay until they have nothing.
I spent the vast majority of my life in unions but finally quit when Serwotka got elected leader of the PCS. This bully cares only about the power he can wield and little about his membership.
The NUT, RMT, Unite and the rest of them are digging their members graves but their leadership won't care, as they will all end up with big houses just as Scargill did when he sold his miners down the river on his ill-fated power trip in the 80s.
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jimbraid1
100 Fans
07:47 PM on 03/29/2012
Valid comments.
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Real Change Not Farce
60 Fans
08:16 PM on 03/29/2012
And bankers and CEO's say that if they dont get the big wages and bonus their supposed talent deserves they are off abroad, I cannot see the difference in any of them.
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KateB21
114 Fans
 
04:54 PM on 03/29/2012
It's amazing to me how people will strike and expect their jobs to still be there whilst they're out stamping their feet. If you don't want your job, someone else WILL take it.
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cadcamcreations
20 Fans
05:46 PM on 03/29/2012
Well they won't when they find the pay barely covers getting to the damn airport.
The management were warned a very long time ago and against advice an outside firm has meddled with the shift times so that the actual shifts are so short it barely makes sense to get there.
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esso man
66 Fans
12:27 AM on 03/30/2012
AT LONG LAST someone who shows some sense !! so far all i have seen is complaints from those who have just got it in for anyone that is trying to curtail a company whose only intention is to reduce their employees wages so that their own income can be increased,but i suppose those are the ones a £1000.00 reduction would not even be noticed,or those who unfortunately WILL suffer by their holidays being spoilt & for them i do feel ! but remember IT IS ONLY A THREAT at the moment !!
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Flying V
0 Fans
11:16 PM on 03/29/2012
Swissport! I work for Swissport at LHR. They already treat their staff as disposable items. They pay off inefficient bosses who negociate contracts which cannot possibly make enough profit so they make up the shortfall by eroding honest workers' pay and conditions. You are sadly mistaken and misguided if you think that deciding to strike is a decision that is made lightly. If no one is prepared to take action we will soon be back to the days of the workhouse. Some people are so short sighted. We are already doomed to working until we're 68. Work harder for less! It's time to take action. We are a country of gullible fools. Whatever happened to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work!
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KateB21
114 Fans
 
01:48 PM on 03/30/2012
Having been out of a full time job for several years, I feel no sympathy towards those with one and feel they don't get paid enough. It's pure greed, at the end of the day. There are millions of people out of work, people should feel lucky they have a job these days!
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