Initial Heathrow strikes suspended after new pay offer

Planned strike action by security staff at London's Heathrow airport later this month has been called off after unions recommended they accept a pay deal, both sides said on Monday.

The two-day walkout scheduled for June 24 and 25 risked causing misery for travellers at one of the busiest times of the year.

But the Unite and PCS unions have now urged their members to accept an offer after eight months of talks.

"We are pleased to have agreed a pay deal which unions are recommending their members to accept," an airport spokesperson said in a statement.

"While a ballot takes place, the first weekend of strikes has been cancelled."

The ballot to accept or reject the deal runs from Tuesday until June 23.

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The deal -- if approved -- includes a 10-percent pay increase, backdated to January 1, and effective from July.

It will rise to 11.5 percent from October with a guarantee of an inflation-linked pay increase for 2024.

Unite confirmed that the strikes had been called off "as a gesture of goodwill" while its more than 2,000 members voted on the proposals.

But it warned that they could still walk out for 29 days over the busy summer months to August 27 if the offer is rejected.

Britain has been hit for the past year by a wave of public and private sector strikes over pay as it grapples with stubbornly high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Some 1,400 security staff went on strike over 10 days as talks broke down, coinciding with the busy Easter holidays getaway in April.

Heathrow said it had "robust contingency plans" in case the unions rejected the deal, and did not anticipate flight cancellations in the event of future strikes.

Source: AFP