Security staff at 11 regional airports operated by the Scottish government are due to take part in a 48-hour strike from midday today in a battle over pay and conditions.
Opening times and scheduled services are expected to operate as normal at the airports, apart from Dundee services.
The Scottish government-owned group Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has advised all Dundee passengers with flights booked from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning to contact the Loganair passenger contact centre on 01496 302 022 to rebook their flights.
All passengers are also advised to arrive 15-20 minutes earlier for their flight and limit the amount of hand and check-in luggage and the amount of liquids they carry through the security process.
Around 120 Prospect union members working in HIAL’s security company AMSL are taking part in the strike. The union has sought a basic pay increase of 5%, equalisation with HIAL's terms and conditions and parity with higher-paid staff at Sumburgh Airport on Shetland.
Prospect national secretary Alan Denney said: ‘We put in our claim in October but have yet to receive an offer from the employer in response to this. Not only that, we’ve seen no evidence to suggest that the claim has been put before the Scottish government, the owners of HIAL.
‘Despite management’s claim to the contrary there has been no real attempt to secure a settlement with us before a strike takes place. In effect they’ve been moving at a snails pace all this time in the hope that we would crack.
‘This is mistaken. Our resolve is rock solid and membership has in fact been growing since the result of the strike ballot was announced.’
HIAL has said a rise of 5% was ‘wildly unrealistic’ adding that the full package of measures called for by the union would amount to an increase of almost 30%.
HIAL managing director Inglis Lyon said: 'While we are disappointed that the industrial action is taking place, we have been working hard to develop contingencies to enable the airports to remain open and minimise the amount of disruption for our passengers.
‘We would like to thank passengers, in advance, for their co-operation and understanding during this period, and we would also like to thank the local teams for their support and helping it be business as usual.’
Owned by Scottish ministers, HIAL operates airports in Inverness, Dundee, Campbeltown, Islay, Tiree, Barra, Benbecula, Stornoway, Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Wick.
