Security staff members of the Unite union at Heathrow Airport have called off their planned strikes after voting in favour of a new pay deal. Initially, they had intended to carry out strikes nearly every weekend from mid-June until the end of August. However, the union paused its planned action to vote on a proposal put forward by Heathrow Airport.
The newly agreed pay deal includes a 10% pay increase retroactive to January 1, with the increase taking effect from workers' July payslips. Additionally, there will be a further pay rise of 1.5% from October and a guaranteed pay increase linked to inflation for 2024. According to Unite, this agreement amounts to a pay increase ranging between 15.5% and 17.5%, depending on the pay bands of the staff.
The deal also includes improvements in maternity and paternity pay, an end to the practice of shifting staff between terminals without notice, and the cessation of using agency workers in security roles, as soon as feasible for Heathrow.
Initially, more than 2,000 security staff from Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 at Heathrow, along with campus security responsible for screening workers and worker vehicles, were planning to take part in the industrial action. However, with the acceptance of the new pay deal, the strikes have been called off.