Strike action at Aldergrove suspended pending talks

Security staff at Belfast International Airport have returned to their jobs just hours after they commenced strike action following fresh talks between union officials and their employers.

Around 100 security staff employed by aviation security firm ICTS went on strike from 4am to 8am on Wednesday May 7 in protest over pay and conditions.

A picket line was set up at the airport gates and all airport staff had been told not to enter.

However, on Wednesday afternoon Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union officials said they would hold off on strike action until next Tuesday pending the outcome of talks over pay.

Ben Lewis, ICTS Finance Director and Company Secretary, who was en route to Belfast from London late on Wednesday afternoon to meet with union officials in an effort to resolve the issue, said he was aware that strike action had taken place but that it had also been suspended.

He said security staff in Belfast International Airport had rejected an earlier offer made by them and had as a result gone on strike. However he said he was convinced that there wouldn’t be any further action.

The Transport and General Workers Union had served formal notice of industrial action on the management of ICTS giving notice of ‘discontinuous stoppages’ over the next 10 days by security staff at the airport.

A spokeswoman for the airport said that flights had not been affected for the duration of the strike on Wednesday morning. He said security was maintained to the required standards as stipulated by the UK Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

(AMcE)