Unite represents more than 700 workers employed by dnata and Menzies at Heathrow in a variety of roles across Heathrow terminals 2, 3 and 4 spanning ground handling, airside transport and cargo.

Balloting got under way on Wednesday (12 October) and will close over 2-3 November. A successful strike vote would allow Unite to call strikes in mid-November, days before the start of the World Cup in Qatar on 20 November.

Unite said Qatar Airlines, which has scheduled 10 additional flights a week during the tournament, would be "badly affected" by a walkout. A strike would also impact Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, said Unite.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Both dnata and Menzies can easily afford to make our members a fair pay offer and should do so. No matter how the employers present the offers on the table, they are substantial real-terms pay cuts and unacceptable to our members."

According to Unite, dnata has offered its workers a 5% pay increase, while Menzies’ offer ranges from 2% to 6%. The offers from both partners, said Unite, fall below inflation, which stands at 12.3%. Both companies have posted profits at their latest round of accounts.

“Strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption and delays across Heathrow, especially for football supporters travelling to the World Cup," said Unite regional officer Kevin Hall. "However, this dispute is entirely of dnata’s and Menzies’ own making. They know what to do to resolve this, which is to make our members a fair pay offer.”

’Inflation compensation’

A dnata UK ground handling and cargo operations spokesperson claimed the company was the first ground services provider in the UK to offer its staff a pay rise in response to the cost of living crisis in December 2021, amounting to 10% for all staff and 14.7% for HGV drivers. It said it had now offered a further 5.5% increase backdated to 1 April 2022 which would "fully compensate the effects of inflation since the Covid-19 pandemic".

"We believe our offer is extremely competitive and further protects our employees as much as possible from the effects of increasing inflation," they said, adding dnata airport operations staff at Heathrow who are members of the GMB union had already "overwhelmingly accepted" the same offer.

"Despite the ballot, we continue to proactively engage with our employees to discuss the value and benefits of our offer and we remain entirely open to negotiations with Unite with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement that will avoid industrial action.”