Strikes ‘inevitable’ for Aberdeen and Glasgow airports

Industrial action at Aberdeen and Glasgow airports is “inevitable”, said the Unite union, after workers overwhelmingly voted to strike in a pay dispute.

Unite confirmed the outcome of the vote on Tuesday with strike action supported by 98.5% of around 200 ICTS (UK) workers at Glasgow and a further 100 or so at Aberdeen airport, for a total of 89.7% in favour of strike action.

Unite confirmed that the ICTS Central Search employees, who deal with passengers directly in the security search areas and process them for flights, could start action in mid-July unless ICTS significantly moves on pay in the coming days.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members employed by ICTS at Aberdeen and Glasgow airports will not tolerate low pay.

“ICTS is a very profitable company, yet it is refusing to make our members a fair pay offer. Unite will back our ICTS members every step of the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

Unite’s lead industrial officer for aviation in Scotland Pat McIlvogue said ICTS had chosen to take the dispute to the point of strike action “rather than act in a responsible way by negotiating a fair pay offer with Unite”.

McIlvogue called on AGS, the owner of Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, to intervene in a final attempt to get ICTS to step back from the brink of causing widespread travel disruption.

He added: “Without these workers, the airports simply can’t operate.”

ICTS central search workers at the two Scottish airports have already rejected a basic pay increase of 4%, backdated to January 2024 and a £500 one-off payment.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh is facing a repeat of the 2022 bin strike unless workers receive an improved pay offer, the GMB Scotland union has warned.

The capital is one of 13 councils in Scotland where waste and recycling workers affiliated with GMB have voted in favour of industrial action.

It said no meaningful talks with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) had taken place since May, when the latest pay offer was rejected.

The union called on the body to return to the table with an improved offer, warning that a failure to do so could result in bins overflowing in Edinburgh at a time when tourists are flocking to the city for the annual Festival Fringe.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, said: “Year after year, these talks have been needlessly drawn out, that leaves our members - typically the lowest paid working on the frontline of our services - without the pay rise they need.

“Council leaders refuse to have meaningful talks – all while blocking the Scottish Government’s intervention to deliver a pay offer that matches our members’ value.

“We hear time and time again that Scotland does public services better, but that’s not the case when the Conservatives down south have already beaten COSLA’s offer.

“If not, then it’s likely that the same disruption during 2022’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival will happen again this year..”

GMB Scotland said it had also received mandates for strike action from waste services workers in Aberdeen, Fife, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross and Stirling.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Local government pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities as employers and unions – the Scottish Government has no formal role.

“The Scottish Government urges all parties involved to work together constructively and reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for employers.”

COSLA has been contacted for comment.

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