Airports strike threat lifted after new pay offer

The threat of a strike by workers at six UK airports has been called off after a new pay offer was tabled.

The Unite union and the airports' operator BAA agreed a "basis for settlement" following a day of talks.

A strike was threatened at airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh and Aberdeen after engineers and other ground staff rejected a pay deal.

Agreement to end the strike threat came after nine hours of talks, but no details of the new offer were released.

Engineers, security staff, and firefighters at airports also including Glasgow and Southampton had voted to strike over a pay offer of up to 1.5%.

Unite national officer Brian Boyd said BAA had tabled a "much improved" offer and workers at the airports would be urged to accept the deal.

He said the threat to strike later this month was being withdrawn while workers voted on the new proposal over the next few weeks.

A BAA spokesman said the operator was now confident that anyone travelling in the next few weeks would not face disruption.

Terry Morgan of BAA: "We think it's a deal that's a fair reward for our staff"

"We believe that the unions are going to recommend acceptance of our offer to their membership," said the spokesman.

"If that's the case, then we are very, very confident that any disruption to our airport operations has now been avoided."

Both sides had come out with a deal they were happy with, he added.

"I think it's a deal that is a fair reward for our staff, but it's also a deal that the company can afford."

It is expected that details of the new pay deal will be announced on Tuesday.

The talks between BAA and Unite took place at the central London offices of the conciliation service Acas.

BAA's original pay offer had been for a 1% increase, with the possibility of an extra 0.5% if the union agreed to changes to the company's sickness agreement.

Earlier this month, Unite members voted by three to one in favour of strike action on a turnout of about 50%.

The union described BAA's offer as "measly", and said it was looking for a rise nearer to 2.5%. BAA staff agreed to a pay freeze last year.

But BAA had said its offer was "fair" after a year in which it had seen a decline in passengers because of the recession and the impact of volcanic ash clouds.