200 workers at Edinburgh Airport to vote on strike action

A total of 200 OCS Group workers based at Edinburgh Airport will be balloted from Wednesday until August 19.

Union Unite said OCS had tabled what it described as the lowest possible wage offer of £12.60 an hour to match the Scottish Living Wage minimum rate to the workers, which they overwhelmingly rejected.

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The OCS Group covers workers who aid passengers with reduced mobility issues, including assisting with wheelchairs and ambilift vehicles for travellers at Edinburgh Airport.

Potential strike action could take place from early September if the ballot is successful.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members working for OCS based at Edinburgh Airport deserve far more than what the company is offering, which is the lowest possible that they can get away with.

“Unite will not tolerate low pay and our members will have the full backing of their union in the fight for better jobs, pay, and conditions.”

Workers ‘vital’ to assisting hundreds of passengers every week

Carrie Binnie, Unite industrial officer, said: “OCS workers are vital to assisting hundreds of passengers every week with mobility issues at Edinburgh Airport. For OCS to put the bare minimum on the table is unacceptable.

“The workers are essential to the airport, and they should be valued and rewarded properly. If our members are forced into strike action, it’s because they won’t accept.”

Edinburgh Airport and OCS have been contacted for comment.

The ballot has been announced just days after Andrew Marshall-Roberts, an active travel manager at ScotRail, called on Edinburgh Airport bosses to urgently improve accessibility for passengers.

The 64-year-old fractured his neck and ended up in hospital for two-and-a-half months after tripping on the stairs at the airport.

Mr Marshall-Roberts was travelling home from Tenerife via London in March when, in the absence of a connecting airbridge, he tripped climbing a set of stairs to the terminal after departing from the plane.

He fractured his nose, forehead and neck in the fall, with Mr Marshall-Roberts telling The Scotsman the incident had left him unable to return to work and with potentially permanent damage to his right arm.

A separate 48-hour strike due to go ahead at Glasgow Airport this month was meanwhile called off to allow for further dialogue with Unite over a pay offer of 4 per cent.

In a separate announcement on Wednesday, Unite confirmed more than 400 members based at Aberdeen airport had backed multiple pay deals.

About 180 ‘front-of-house’ customer service, ramp and bagging agents employed by Skytanking have accepted a 5 per cent pay increase. More than 100 ICTS Central Search workers, who deal with passengers in the security search areas and process them for flights, have also backed a 4.5 per cent increase to basic pay and allowances.

A 4 per cent pay rise has been agreed for around 80 Aberdeen Airport Limited workers, who include airport ambassadors, airside support officers, engineers and managers.

Paula Buchan, Unite industrial officer, said: “Unite has successfully negotiated a significant boost to the pay packets of hundreds of workers based at Aberdeen airport. We are pleased that the companies negotiated in good faith with Unite and improved offers were made, which our members believed were acceptable.”