Cleaners at British Airways’ offices at Heathrow have announced strike action as staff are “on poverty wages” and forced to use foodbanks, their union has said - on the same day the airport unveiled plans for a huge expansion. Workers employed by OCS to clean the airline’s offices will go on strike from February 25 to 28 unless a deal is reached, Unite said. The news broke hours after Heathrow airport announced a multibillion-pound investment as it started work towards a third runway.
In a speech on Wednesday, chief executive Thomas Woldbye unveiled funding for upgrades and expansion, such as boosting the capacity of Terminals 2 and 5, reconfiguring the layout of the airfield, and boosting bus and coach connections. Chancellor Rachel Reeves used a speech on growth last month to give her support for a third runway at Heathrow. OCS is accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and pays its directly employed staff £13.85 an hour in London but many of its 50,000 employees are not paid the same wage as they are on external contracts.
Unite said this means OCS’s BA workers are being paid the legal minimum wage of £11.44 an hour in one of the most expensive cities on the planet. The low wages mean some workers, who wear BA branded uniforms, have to use foodbanks while others are struggling to pay their rent, the union added. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is rank hypocrisy for OCS to boast about being a real living wage employer when its BA staff are on poverty wages and having to use foodbanks.
“The Living Wage Foundation should not be allowing race-to-the-bottom outsourcers like OCS to take cover under its good name. “Both OCS and BA are hugely profitable and can well afford to pay these workers fairly and decently. Unite will support them in their strike action until that happens.”. OCS made operating profits of £28.3 million in 2023, while BA’s parent company, IAG, made £1.7 billion during the peak summer season last year, according to Unite.
Escalating industrial action is planned if a satisfactory pay offer is not put forward for the cleaners. Unite regional officer Martin West said: “There is still time to avoid industrial action but that will require OCS to put forward a fair pay offer. This dispute will continue to escalate and does reflect well on either OCS or BA – it is in both companies’ interests to resolve it.”. On Tuesday Unite announced that it had secured BA workers at Gatwick and Heathrow a pay rise worth more than £290m over three years as well as a potential profit share worth a further £318m.
