Birmingham Airport strikes suspended following last-minute talks
Strike action by more than 150 airport security officers and terminal technicians has been suspended following an improved pay offer.
The all-out indefinite strike action at Birmingham Airport, which was due to start tomorrow, has been suspended as an act of goodwill to allow unite members to be balloted on the new offer.
Unite regional officer Sulinder Singh, said: "Unite's members have agreed to suspend strike action while they are balloted on the new offer. We will be making no further comment until the result of the ballot is announced."
The strike action was announced following negotiations with the Unite Union over pay deals where the airport made a revised offer of 10.5 per cent on July 11, back-dated to the start of April.
The airport said the offer is well above the Consumer Price index of inflation and the UK average pay settlement this year of six per cent.
In a previous statement, the airport said: "Despite Unite officials recommending the offer be accepted, it was surprisingly rejected by the union's Birmingham Airport members.
"Following the rejection of this offer, we were very keen to move discussions to the next stage of the process outlined in our established bargaining agreement with Unite, which involves the dispute of conciliation service ACAS.
"Mediation is a tried and tested method of resolving disputes, proving successful in nine out of 10 cases."
If the new offer is rejected, then the indefinite strike action will begin on Tuesday, August 1.
