Over 100 London-Heathrow-based cabin crew members from SAS Crew Services have been balloted over potential strike action regarding poor pay. The ballot opened on November 14 and will close on December 4, meaning that industrial action could well take place over the festive period.
Union Unite, which represents the crew members, said its members were “furious” over a lack of a decent pay offer, after the current 3.5% offer was below the 4.5% rate of inflation and would not be backdated to the pay anniversary date. This, it said, represented a real-terms pay cut for hard-working cabin crew staff.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “SAS publicly praise their cabin crew, yet in private they are cynically trying to short-change them. This is simply unacceptable when the airline depends on their expertise and passengers rely on them for safety. They will have the full support of their union in this dispute.”
Callum Rochford, Unite’s regional officer, added: “SAS is not only offering its staff a real-terms pay cut but then saying they won’t even backdate it to the pay anniversary. This is penny-pinching of the highest order, and our members won’t stand for it. SAS management needs to come back to the negotiating table with an improved offer, or their passengers won’t be flying home to Scandinavia this festive season.”
Meanwhile, a Heathrow-based crew member, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Confessions of a Trolley Dolly: “The London base was offered a pay increase below the rate of inflation. Added to this was the decision to cut our flight pay so how the airline can justify this as a pay increase is beyond my colleagues and I.
“Heathrow consistently fills the gaps for the Scandinavian bases and works its socks off for very little gratitude. All we are asking for is a little recognition and a pay increase that allows us a basic standard of living and not living hand to mouth.”
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[Cover image Credit SAS]
© Confessions of a Trolley Dolly by Dan Air