BAA Strike Ballot

Unite has given U.K. airport operator BAA seven days notice of a strike ballot in a dispute over pay.

Unite said that after months of negotiations, its has "no choice" but to give BAA notice of a strike ballot, which will start on July 23rd and end August 12th.

Unite said BAA staff had accepted a pay freeze in 2009, and this year the operator of six U.K. airports is only offering a 1% pay increase, plus 0.5% that is conditional on changes in a sickness agreement.

Staff were also offered a bonus for last year on condition that BAA met its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization target of £1.2 billion ($1.85 billion). But staff missed out because BAA, which is owned by a consortium headed by Spain's Grupo Ferrovial, fell short of that target by 3%.

The union will ballot 6,185 members including security staff, engineers, firefighters and support staff at BAA airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

"A negotiated agreement can be reached if the company is prepared to be fairer and more realistic," said Unite's national officer for civil aviation, Brendan Gold. "The union understands the difficulties the airline industry is facing but BAA must realize that these airport workers are struggling to make ends meet."