easyJet strike would spell chaos for thousands of travelers

LONDON, England – Thousands of holidaymakers face chaos this summer if easyJet cabin crew go ahead with a strike over pay.

LONDON, England – Thousands of holidaymakers face chaos this summer if easyJet cabin crew go ahead with a strike over pay.

If the stoppage goes ahead next month, then hundreds of flights are in danger of being grounded.

EasyJet is Britain’s biggest airline.

The pay row involves more than 2,000 cabin crew who are threatening to stage a walk out.

They have been offered a pay increase of two percent but this has been rejected by their union leaders.

Some cabin crew are reported to earn as little as ยฃ10,000 a year and have to rely on commission from items sold on board planes to increase their pay.

Talks between easyJet executives and officials from the Unite union have been in progress for weeks but they broke down last week.

The union is now understood to be serving notice on the airline tomorrow that a strike ballot will go ahead.

Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said: “Cabin crew have worked hard to make easyJet a success enabling the company to record pre-tax profits in excess of half a billion.

“All our members are asking for is a decent pay rise that reflects the important role they have played in making easyJet a leading airline.”

The airline said that they will be making the pay award despite the strike threat.

A spokesman said: “We believe it is right to make the award now since cabin crew, the majority of whom are not union members, have been waiting for a conclusion to the pay discussions for a number of months.

“The offer includes increases of up to 5.1 percent over two years on top of a market-leading set of pay and conditions.

“EasyJet is disappointed that a minority of its cabin crew voted to reject the recent pay offer.”

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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