British Airways check-in staff and baggage handlers at London Heathrow walked out at 16.00 on 18 July, after the airline announced it would introduce a computerised swipe card system to track employees' working hours.
The unofficial strike by 250 staff was not called by any of the three trade unions involved - the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU), the GMB and Amicus. BA says that the new system is aimed at saving administration costs by replacing an older paper-based system, but workers fear it could prevent unofficial shift swaps and lead to employees being sent home outside peak hours.
Although the stoppage lasted a little over 24h, it caused massive disruption to the airline's entire network, effectively closing its Heathrow hub. BA says it resulted in cancellation of 520 flights, and the "disruption of several hundred more which affected an estimated 90,000 of our passengers". The backlog took several days to clear, and the threat of further action continues to cast a shadow over BA's operations during the busiest period of the year.
Source: Flight International
