Possible light at the end of the tunnel heart with perhaps both sides starting to see sense.  Why they could not in the first place I don't know?

The first of a series of new year strikes by workers at seven airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, has been called off following a breakthrough in peace talks.  Thousands of firefighters, security and clerical workers were due to walk out for 24 hours next Monday. Annonova reports that it was to have been the first of three stoppages in protest at a decision by BAA to close its final salary pension scheme to new workers.

Following several hours of negotiations, officials from the Unite union said an agreement had been reached in principle to hold "proper consultations" over the future of the pension scheme before any changes are made. The agreement will be discussed by union representatives on Thursday but in the meantime next Monday's strike has been called off.  Further strikes planned for January 14 and January 17/18 will be called off if the deal is accepted by the union representatives on Thursday.  A union spokesman said: "The company has agreed there will be proper discussions before any decision is reached on the future of the pension scheme."

The breakthrough came after almost eight hours of talks at a secret location between leaders of Unite and the Public and Commercial Services union and officials from BAA

The latest on this dispute is that some more talks have taken place between BAA and the Union Unite and then broken down, with no further talks scheduled before the first strike is due to take place on January 7th.  The union Unite, representing disgruntled groundstaff at BAA airports has warned that all seven BAA airports face closure if the strikes, which involve crucial staff including firefighters, and security and maintenance workers, go ahead as planned. Union members voted by more than a 2:1 margin backing industrial action last week.

"As things stand, the industrial action set to begin on January 7 will go ahead," a union spokesman said, adding that BAA had refused to back down over its pensions decision. Union officials said there was still time, though, to reach agreement before the first strike, and avert travel chaos.

A BAA spokesman said the airports operator was "disappointed" the talks had not yet resolved the dispute, adding that it believes "the threat of industrial action is unnecessary because we have guaranteed that existing workers will not be affected by the change to the pension scheme."

"We will continue to do all we can to resolve this dispute since we believe that a strike would not be in the interests of our passengers or our staff."Spokesmen for both parties made the following  predictable statements.

It is interesting that Ferrovial who now own BAA have had their name kept well away from all the mud slinging.  My theory is that they will drive the BAA workers into submission by winning the PR war and getting the digruntled public to turn against the groundstaff.  They can afford to have the BAA name and brand further tarnished  because later in 2008 once the dispute is over and Heatrow terminal five is open they will rebrand to Ferrovial.  It is amazing that a company can have the worst airports in the world and still make massive profits.  But hey that's capitilism for you.

Its official!  It looks like major misery for travellers to the UK in the New Year.  The Times reports that airport workers at seven airports in England and Scotland voted to strike three times in January in a dispute over pensions.  Unite, the trade union representing firefighters and security staff at the BAA-owned airports, said that its membership was angered by the Spanish-owned airport group's decision to close its salary pension schedule to new entrants.

Unite's National Aviation Secretary Brendan Gold said the strike could close all seven airports. "There will be huge disruption," he told a news conference. Union member will stage three strikes: two 24-hour walkouts starting at 0100 EST on January 7 and January 14 and a further 48-hour strike from 0600 GMT on January 17.

The union's members include fire crews, maintenance workers, clerical staff and security staff.  The strike will affect Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports. BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, said it regretted the action and would do all it could to minimize disruption to passengers.

Giving an indication of the possible scale of disruption the Independant reports as follows;

By far the busiest and biggest of the airports is Heathrow in west London where British Airways alone would operate about 550 arriving and departing flights a day in January.

All told, Heathrow handles around 1,350 flights a day, with enticing long-haul destinations such as the Caribbean, Australasia and South Africa particularly popular for holidaymakers wanting to escape the dark and cold of January in the UK.

The second-biggest UK airport for BAA is Gatwick in West Sussex. Gatwick is scheduled to handle 87,000 passengers on 682 flights on January 7 which is the first of the planned strike days.

On the second strike day of January 14 Gatwick would handle 82,000 passengers on 646 flights, with 80,000 passengers due to pass through the airport on January 17 when 628 flights are planned, and 650 flights and 78,000 passengers due on January 18..

The third of the BAA London airports is Stansted in Essex which on a typical January day will handle around 50,000 to 60,000 passengers. Both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in Scotland are likely to handle around 20,000 passengers on the strike days.

Around 5,000 a day are likely to travel to and from Aberdeen airport which would typically handle around 220 flights a day in January, including trips to off-shore installations.