Swissport Pay deal

[mole man]

Any news of the Swissport Pay deal


Thanks


Mole Man:ok:

[leadinghand]

strike dates imminent 48 hour strike

[SouthDerbyshire1969]

Next week, 9th & 10th.

[skysky]

is this still going ahead, not much in news about it !

[leadinghand]

strike dates cancelled-new offer on the table

[SouthDerbyshire1969]

Strike back on again, http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/baggage-handlers-strike-set-to-hit-uk-airports-next-week-says-unite/

[SouthDerbyshire1969]

New strike dates - 23rd and 24th :rolleyes:

[British Grenadier]

I hope they get the rise that they're asking for , biggest dodgy practice coy going ........

[speedbird_481_papa]

So do I. Unfortunately I work Front of House for Swissport and they do NOT recognise Unite as the union, only the GMB. So being a member of unite where do I stand as the union negotiating this pay deal is NOT recognised for passenger handling/FOH operations (at least at my airport)? Do I still work and face 'crossing the line' and disgust by my fellow members or go with the strike and take part and face potential disciplinary action for joining my fellow members?

I really hope a solution can be reached and agreed so (selfish I admit I do feel kind of sorry for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who will have their christmas plans ruined!) I don't have to face this dilemma

[stevef]

I'm in the aviation sector and had my fair share of having to work anti-social hours, often at short notice. It'll be the same for me this Christmas. But... it goes with the job (and not that well-paid for my circumstances). No one is going to get any sympathy from me for participating in a strike that screws up people's holidays at this time of year.

[LTNman]

Like everyone else Swissport employees deserve an increase. What was that report that came out the other day that said that most employees were no better off than 10 years ago but the bosses get richer.

[T250]

What pay rise are these guys after exactly? Nearly 5% rise offered and now rejected with strike action?! The rate of inflation has been minimal for the last few months/years.

Having your cake and eating it comes to mind, incredible greed!

[The96er]

What pay rise are these guys after exactly? Nearly 5% rise offered and now rejected with strike action?! The rate of inflation has been minimal for the last few months/years.

As with all strikes in all industries, it's usually a cocktail of issues that bring about a strike. Airport ground handling has been suffering for years now with the constant cost cutting with staff feeling nothing short of worthless.

[frontcheck]

Totally agree with you on that The69er. The airlines have the handling agents by the "wotsits" and the handling agents have their staff by the "wotsits". Ground handling has to be one of the lowest paid sectors in the industry these days. Most people do not realise what is involved in working ground duties (and I include staff in the industry) there is a lot more to it than meets the eye but its all done on a shoestring budget. Before anyone says pay peanuts , get monkeys, there are a lot of great staff with many many years of experience around but are shafted on a daily basis.

[FMCTEMPEST]

Totally agree with you on that The69er. The airlines have the handling agents by the "wotsits" and the handling agents have their staff by the "wotsits". Ground handling has to be one of the lowest paid sectors in the industry these days. Most people do not realise what is involved in working ground duties (and I include staff in the industry) there is a lot more to it than meets the eye but its all done on a shoestring budget. Before anyone says pay peanuts , get monkeys, there are a lot of great staff with many many years of experience around but are shafted on a daily basis.

Been in this ground industry for 18 years and only earn £200 a month more than I did 18 years ago.

There is no line of people joining our industry @ £7.50 per hour starting rate.

McDonald's pay more with less responsibility.

[leadinghand]

What pay rise are these guys after exactly? Nearly 5% rise offered and now rejected with strike action?! The rate of inflation has been minimal for the last few months/years.

Having your cake and eating it comes to mind, incredible greed!

[KelvinD]

Not 5%. The offer is actually for 4.65% made up with 1% for 2015 (yes, that is the previous year!), 1.25% for 2016 and 2.4% for 2017. Such increases will apply only to basic pay. Overtime pay remains static.
When you consider most of the people affected are earning between £7.00 and £8.00 per hour they could be making a whopping £14.00 per week extra. Looking at the 2015 figures, most employees will get an additional £3.00 per week in their pay packets. But why has the company still not settled what to pay their employees for work done 2 years ago!
Incredible greed indeed! NOT!

[750XL]

The pay rise is ONLY for basic pay (ie your contracted hours). A lot of part time guys n girls are on 20hour contracts, but work upwards of 50 hours a week. That's an extra 30 hours a week they want to be paid at the new rate, quite rightly

[7Three7Specialist]

Wish we had nearly 5% pay rise.

We were struggling to negotiate past 1%!

[VictorCharlieTen]

. . . . . While the 2 biggest Lo-co's make hundreds of millions of pounds in PROFITS every 6 months. It's disgusting, - how the Airlines have managed to screw these handling agents this last 5yrs especially is beyond me. It's high time the Airlines paid for this handling and the management of the remaining Uk handling agents negotiated proper contracts for their business. It's no secret the biggest 2 handling agents within the U.k have been cutting each others throats in the race to the bottom. Looks like we're here though and probably a good thing. Without the handling agents the Airlines would NEED to go back to having their own staff again COSTING THEM more money. Time to decide.

[horatio_b]

Jet2 are moving their handling in-house

Jet2 creates 200 jobs at Manchester Airport - Manchester Evening News (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/jet2-creates-200-jobs-manchester-12307649)

[Boeing_James]

Have to say as bad as I feel for people having their Christmas travel plans disrupted, they do have my support.

The way that ground handling companies these day treat their staff is appalling. As somebody else has already mentioned you can get paid the same to work in McDonald but have zero responsibility in comparison to a dispatcher or load controller on £9ish an hour.

In a similar way to the hounding that BA has received over the working conditions of their mixed fleet crew and strike action in both the press and in online forums etc, I hope the way that ground handling companies operate gets some exposure too.

Just my two cents.

[Brigantee]

Have to agree , The likes of Swissport treat their staff with utter contempt ,
Good luck to them.

[skysky]

They have my support, I however do blame the airlines for expecting a golden service but pay peanuts for it. They soon forgot how costly self handling is/was., but they want there cake and eat it.

I only got 1% this year, and I dont think we even got that last year !

[STN Ramp Rat]

the issue is not the airlines its the "handlers". The airlines go out to tender and pick the "best response", its the handlers that offer the prices to the airlines.


You have to question why they are offering below cost pricing and I know the commercial staff will say that its market rate and they have to offer it but regretfully Aviator have recently shown where this leads to. If an airline pays more then they will effectively subsidise the carriers that are not paying that rate. the exceptions to this seem to be the ME3 who have a set Service Level Agreement and station management to ensure that these standards are adhered to.

[tickerdboo]

No strike by Swissport staff.....Union has let it's members down again. ...

[750XL]

No strike by Swissport staff.....Union has let it's members down again. ...
How? A deal was agreed.

[Brigantee]

I hear jet2 are now doing there own ramp work in house, As for the pay deal the union members have the final say not the union