The Unite union said that more than 1,000 workers at Stansted, including security officers, cleaners, firefighters, maintenance staff and airport ambassadors, will vote on industrial action. The strike ballot is due to close on 19 September.
Unite said the pay offer from Stansted, which is owned by Manchester Airports Group (MAG), was “overwhelmingly rejected” by workers in an earlier vote, even though the union had “strongly recommended” that the deal be accepted by members last month.
Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary, said: “Stansted and MAG expected our members to make financial sacrifices during the pandemic and they expect them to do the same thing now during the cost of living crisis.
“Everyone is expected to tighten their belts except MAG’s rich executives. Our members won’t stand for it and they will receive Unite’s full support in fighting for a fair pay rise.”
Unite pointed out that its members at Stansted had agreed to a 10% pay cut for a year during the pandemic, which was later extended by another three months.
The union said a strike “would cause significant disruption or could even close the airport” because it would include security staff and firefighters.
A Stansted spokesperson said: “We were surprised and disappointed to learn Unite had chosen to ballot colleagues for strike action on the grounds they consider our latest pay offer to be unacceptable.
“This is the very same pay offer we agreed with Unite, and which it strongly recommended its members voted in favour of as recently as 20 July.
“We remain fully committed to working with our unions to reach an agreement that recognises the hard work and dedication of our colleagues and maintains the financial stability of the airport after the extreme challenges we faced because of the pandemic and at a time when passenger levels are still measurably lower than they were in 2019.”
