Airlines braced for foodless fights as catering workers ballot for strikes over Christmas

Passengers at airports across the country are facing the prospect of having no onboard food or drink during long and short haul flights as dnata catering workers ballot for strike action.

More than 700 dnata workers providing food for airlines at Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow, London City, Stansted, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham airports are balloting for strike action.

The production line, warehouse and delivery workers are angry at the company’s attempts to change their terms and conditions without consultation.

If strikes go ahead, at Manchester airport big airlines like EasyJet, Ryanair, Emirates, TUI, Air Lingus, Singapore airlines, Ethiopian airlines will all be affected.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “dnata’s attempts to bypass its workers and force through damaging changes to terms and conditions will not be tolerated. Unite’s dnata members have their union’s full and unflinching support in fighting its underhand attempts to impose these plans.”

dnata is refusing to consult with Unite on plans that could detrimentally impact how rostering, variable working, annualised hours, seasonal working, absence management and annual leave allocations are carried out.

The industrial action ballot opened this week and will close on 5 December, with strikes potentially being scheduled over the Christmas period.

Unite national officer for aviation Balvinder Bir said: “Strikes would have a serious impact on major airlines at eight UK airports and will be entirely the fault of dnata. There is still time for industrial action to be avoided but that will require dnata entering into meaningful negotiations with Unite about the changes it is putting forward.”

In response a dnata and Retail spokesperson said: “Despite our continuous efforts to reach a fair solution, Unite has rejected our reasonable proposals to enhance wages and conditions and initiated a ballot for industrial action.

“We have already implemented and paid a salary increase to our team to address cost-of-living pressures and recognise their contributions to the company. Our current, competitive offer is in line with market conditions, reflecting industry standards and comparable roles in the sector.

“We are surprised and disappointed by the union’s recent statement claiming we are changing terms and conditions without consultation, which is entirely inaccurate.

“We have consistently sought to engage in constructive discussions with the union throughout the negotiation process.

We remain open to further dialogue and are committed to achieving an agreement that serves the interests of all parties and ensures the sustainability of our organisation.”