One of Ayrshire's largest employers has agreed a new round of pay increases equivalent to an 18 per cent uplift for some staff.
Following backing from the majority of employees represented by the Unite and Prospect trade unions, Government-owned Glasgow Prestwick Airport has announced a two-year pay deal that will see all staff receive at least a 6% increase and the Real Living Wage of £10.90 per hour as minimum. There will also be an additional one-off payment of between £1,000 and £1,250 to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
Next year will see a further 4% increase along with a boost to employer pension contributions.
READ MORE: Prestwick Airport needs taxpayer millions to remain in existence
The announcement comes after Unite said earlier this month that more than 80 of its members had agreed to accept a package of improvements to pay and conditions worth up to 18% for some workers. Unite represents employees working as airport security, firefighters, airfield operators, ground handling and cargo crew, customer service, and cleaners.
The pay deal was backed by 88% of staff from Unite and 94% of those represented by Prospect.
Noting that the airport made an operating profit in the latest financial year to March 2022, Glasgow Prestwick chief executive Ian Forgie said: “Over the last five years we have been steadily growing as a business supported by our dedicated staff, and I am pleased that we have been able to agree this two-year pay deal.
READ MORE: Glasgow Prestwick bids to become ‘boneyard’ amid plane recycling boom
“We will continue to unlock the airport’s potential by investing in facilities and our staff, as we progress a number of opportunities to deliver steady growth."
The airport was taken into public ownership in November 2013 after being purchased by the Scottish Government for £1. The facility was purchased from New Zealand firm Infratil after it incurred annual losses of £2m.
The Scottish Government has been trying to sell the airport but a preferred bidder pulled out of negotiations in May 2021. Ministers then re-engaged with the second-placed bidder, but “various concerns” were identified and it was not pursued further.
Glasgow Prestwick directly employs more than 300 people and supports a further 1,700 jobs through its supplier network.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here