There was little sign of progress tonight in talks to prevent two one-day strikes by baggage handlers at Stansted airport over the coming Bank Holiday weekend.
The row involves the TGWU and GMB unions and Swissport, the ground-handling agent for airlines at the Essex airport. Holiday flights run by companies such as Ryanair and easyJet will be “severely disrupted” by the walkouts, the GMB union predicted.
For the second day running, the talks were being hosted by the conciliation service Acas. With no official word on progress, it was thought that the sides were still far apart and that there was little likelihood of a breakthrough.
Around 300,000 passengers are expected to pass through Stansted over the four days of the Bank Holiday weekend, from Friday to Monday.
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The first part of the walk-out is likely to affect families starting a holiday this weekend, as it is scheduled to begin at 5am on Saturday and continue until 8am the following day.
The second strike is more likely to affect those returning from week-long breaks, as it starts on 5am on Bank Holiday Monday and continues until 8am the following day.
The discussions follow a strike ballot of 500 GMB members employed by Swissport, who rejected a pay offer and voted by three to one for industrial action to secure an improved offer.
The union said it submitted a pay claim in April, including calls for a premium rate for Sunday working in addition to a “substantial” pay review. Swissport has not met the claim for Sunday premiums, according to the union, and the pay offer the company made had “unacceptable” strings attached.
The workers provide ground-handling services, including check-in and baggage handling for about 80 per cent of the passengers who use Stansted airport, said the union.
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Swissport holds the ground-handling contracts for Ryanair and easyJet, and a number of the holiday charter airlines who use Stansted.
Ryanair - badly hit by flight cancellations due to this month’s heightened security arrangements - said today that it expected to operate a full schedule of flights to and from Stansted, even if the strike went ahead.
The Irish no-frills carrier said that if there was industrial action, it will allow all passengers to use its internet check-in facility and has written to those passengers today to advise them that if the strike goes ahead, they may be required to use this facility and travel with no checked-in luggage on those flights.