The chaos caused by British Airways baggage handlers at London Heathrow has reached far beyond the world’s busiest airport, to disrupt the movement of people around the globe. The irony is that the British carrier is not even directly involved in the dispute between managers and workers of its catering supplier. The website of this Swiss-American company, Gate Gourmet, says that it supplies annually 208 million in-flight meals to 200 airlines from 115 kitchens around the world manned by some 22,000 staff. The company’s dispute in London led to workers being fired and new staff hired.
As a result of this tough action by the caterers, one thousand British Airways baggage crew, who also handle several other airlines, decided to go on strike in sympathy. Their two days of action, which was reportedly ending last night, forced British Airways to cancel 1,100 flights, stranding at least 150,000 of its passengers. The impact on other airlines was hardly less severe.
Whatever the merits of the Gate Gourmet workers’ dispute with their employers, the sympathy action taken by the British Airways staff was selfish, inconsiderate and entirely unwarranted. Since the days of Margaret Thatcher such strikes are illegal under British law but the airline clearly preferred to appeal to its workers than risk widening the dispute by standing on its legal rights.
One wonders if the British Airways baggage handlers stopped for a moment to consider the heartache, inconvenience and chaos they were causing to thousands of travelers. This is the height of the holiday season and many of the people stranded by their action were hoping to go off on vacations for which they had planned and saved all year. It is ironic that the sort of people who would behave as selfishly as the baggage handlers, would also be the first to protest loudly if it was their holiday that was being disrupted by someone else.
The havoc caused around the globe by the actions of these people also points up one of the consequences of increasing globalization. There are basic services such as travel, communications and power without which modern societies cannot function. There are key workers within those industries occupying positions of power out of all proportion to their position. Fortunately most have behaved responsibly until now and the companies that provide such services have built-in fail-safe contingencies.
While it is right that labor should be a market and individuals, such as Heathrow’s well-paid baggage handlers, can negotiate remuneration that recognizes the challenge of their jobs — loading luggage onto airplanes in pouring rain or icy wind can be no fun — it is utterly wrong that a withdrawal of their labor should cause such mayhem to tens of thousands of innocent people. This becomes even more the case if key workers strike in support of other workers with whom they have no direct link.
This nasty little dispute has not only cost British Airways millions of dollars, it has also cost these self-centered baggage handlers the respect of the traveling public.
