Gatwick baggage staff on strike

The union threatens more strikes if the dispute continues

Hundreds of baggage handlers at Gatwick airport staged a 24-hour walkout on Saturday in a dispute over workloads.

At least 300 Servisair staff failed to turn up for work, the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) said.

Flights were reported to be leaving on time, and a Servisair spokesman said contingency plans meant no disruption to the public had occurred.

In a separate dispute, a two-day strike by refuelling staff at Heathrow has been halted after a deal was agreed.

'Desired effect'

Gatwick airport said managers had been drafted in to handle passengers' luggage and scheduled flights were continuing as normal.

The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) said the Gatwick strike had been "solidly supported".

Andy Dodgson, TGWU spokesman, said the strike had been a success and insisted the workers were not trying to disrupt flights.

We are pleased with the success of our contingency plans Servisair spokesman

"Our dispute is with Servisair and not the travelling public, so the news that there has been little disruption is good," he said.

"The company has had to go to the considerable cost of bringing in managers from different parts of the company, so the strike has very clearly had the desired effect," he added.

He said the dispute involved around 600 Servisair workers, of which at least 300 had been due in at Gatwick on Saturday morning - but none had turned up.

And he confirmed that Gatwick staff will stage another 24-hour walkout on 30 September if the dispute continues.

'Contingency plans'

Servisair is one of four baggage handling companies at Gatwick, covering more than 20 airlines including Ryanair, Air Malta, Britannia, Thomas Cook, Easyjet, Excel Airways, Mytravel, Continental and Delta.

A spokesman for the baggage firm said: "We are pleased with the success of our contingency plans."

Airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic use different baggage handling companies and were not affected by the strike.

Thomas Cook and Mytravel said they had drafted in their own staff to cover for the strikers.

Union members at Heathrow have accepted their employer's offer

The row centres on new working practices introduced earlier this year, which the TGWU said presented health and safety issues for its members.

The dispute is said to have worsened after a shop steward was suspended, leading the union to claim he had been "victimised".

At Heathrow, about 40 members of the TGWU walked out at 0430 BST on Friday and had been due to stay on strike for 48 hours.

That dispute was suspended on Friday night after a new pay offer from refuelling company AFS was made.

After a meeting on Saturday morning, the decision was ratified and all future strike action was called off.

The TGWU said the deal was worth 11.1% in the first year.