by New Worker correspondent

At the time of typing a strange orange object was seen in the sky over this correspondent’s abode. According to astrologers, this is a sign that the holiday season is approaching. To mark the occasion, workers in the aviation industry are gearing up for industrial action as the busiest periods are best for putting pressure on employers.

At Glasgow and Edinburgh airports almost 700 workers have voted for summer strike action.

Some 370 employees of Edinburgh Airport Ltd are involved in a pay dispute while across the country at Glasgow Airport about 320 workers employed by Menzies Aviation and ICTS also primed for action.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham pointed out that the impending strikes were “a direct result of their very profitable employers’ refusal to make a fair pay offer. The workers have no other option and the blame for this situation lies entirely with wealthy companies choosing to boost profits before people.”

Among the 370 Edinburgh workers are airport ambassadors (whatever these are), airside support officers, engineers and managers. Unite argues that as it made a £144.4 million profit it can well afford to cough up.

At Glasgow, where 150 ground services crew employed by Menzies Aviation (pronounced Ming-is) work, they recently announced record 2025 results of $3 billion in global revenue. Their 170 colleagues employed by ICTS workers at Glasgow deal with security and work for a company whose 2025 profits were £7.6 million compared with £4.4 million in 2024.

Unite expects to announce strike dates shortly and time them to occur during the peak of the summer holiday rush coinciding with the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow.

Further north, at Aberdeen Airport about 70 ICTS members based are also balloting for industrial action.

Earlier in May, the same union’s 100 employees of ABM who look after passengers with disabilities at London’s Stansted Airport used the threat of strike to secure an improved pay offer from ABM, after rejecting a two per cent offer. They accepted a two-year pay deal involving a 3.8 per cent uplift, backdated to last November, plus an additional one per cent from May; next year they will have a pay rise of 3.5 per cent. This year they will also get a £350 pro rata payment.

Regional officer Steve Edwards said: “These workers do a vital job at Stansted and we are glad the employer recognised this following extensive negotiations. Unite is very happy to have secured this deal for our members at ABM, which guarantees pay rises for two years.”

Meanwhile, GMB have claimed credit for saving Doncaster Airport whose future had been in doubt when the local council, now led by Reform UK, reversed its policy of refusing to provide a £57 million upgrade loan. GMB Organiser Sarah Barnes said: “It’s a massive relief – both personally and for everyone in South Yorkshire – that the airport project hasn’t been killed. Thanks to pressure from workers, unions and politicians, Reform has executed a screeching U-turn and will no longer cancel the £57 million loan.” She concluded: “This is a huge victory for the people of Doncaster.”

Another modest triumph for airport workers has taken place at Heathrow, where Unite saved the jobs of 90 Dnata and Do & Co catering workers when the TUPE agreement was suddenly halted when their jobs were in the process of being transferred to Gate Gourmet.

The transfer was planned after American Airlines dumped Dnata as caterers after mice were seen on aircraft. It transferred the business to Do & Co. Two-hundred workers were under threat of redundancy but 120 were transferred to Do & Co. Yet on the day of the transfer the coaches taking them to work were blocked by Do & Co, who wrongly claimed no TUPE arrangements were in place. They now use agency staff.

The unexpected hero is another catering company, Gate Gourmet, which is now taking on these affected workers.

Unite is taking legal action against Dnata and Do & Co on behalf of its members. It accuses American Airlines of washing its hands of the situation, claiming the matter does not concern its workforce directly.

The 90 members at Dnata, including those there for more than 20 years, were only offered two weeks’ severance pay as a “goodwill gesture”.

Regional officer Shereen Higginson said: “This has been an extremely complex and unprecedented situation and one which Unite has not encountered previously.” She doffed her cap to say: “We are grateful to Gate Gourmet who have stepped in and worked with Unite to help rescue our members’ jobs. However, Dnata and Do & Co have handled this extremely poorly and caused significant concern and worry for our hard-working members.”

This is a turn-up for the books. In 2005, Gate Gourmet became notorious for sacking hundreds of mostly Punjabi women – announcing the fact in a megaphone message. Gate Gourmet was the beneficiary of British Airways outsourcing its catering in the 1990s. The dispute was sparked by Management attempts to reduce break times and speeding up conveyor belts.

The then Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU) took up their case, but returning from their morning tea break the workers discovered that agency staff had been taken on, which was Gate Gourmet’s long-term plan.

Heathrow baggage workers walked out in protest, which was illegal under Thatcher’s anti-union laws, but they closed the airport for two days in August. Those who returned to Gate Gourmet did so on worse terms and conditions, however.