LUTON TRADES UNION COUNCIL
LTUC MEETING DATES FOR 2026:
AGM: 19 February
19 March
16 April
21 May
18 June
16 July
17 September
15 October
19 November
21 January 2027
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NEWS & EVENTS
Unite members at GH Luton Ground Handling Services celebrate "excellent" pay win - April 2026
Over 180 Unite members who work for GH Luton Ground Handling Services at London Luton Airport have accepted an inflation-busting 7.5 per cent pay rise.
Workers were balloted for strike action over an unsatisfactory offer. However, following negotiations between GH Luton Ground Handling Services and Unite, this was vastly improved and Unite members voted to accept the deal.
All employees will receive the consolidated pay increase effective from 1 April.
This is one of the highest pay settlements in the civil transport sector so far this year.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This is an excellent pay win and Unite staff and representatives involved in securing it must be commended for their hard work.
"They stood together in their fight for fair pay and proved there is power in a union. Unite will always work hard to put money back into our members' pockets."
GH Luton Ground Handling Services provides ground handling for Wizz Air at Luton Airport. Staff cover a wide range of operations from check-in and baggage handling to flight dispatch.
Unite regional officer Piotr Skorupski said: "Unite is very proud to have achieved this hard won pay deal for our members at GH Luton Ground Handling Services.
"It shows exactly what Unite does. If you want to improve your pay, join Unite and encourage your colleagues to do the same."
Luton Arriva bus engineers strike over serious sexual harassment and assault issues
Unite shop steward fired after he demanded issues be taken seriously - April 2026
Arriva bus engineers in Luton will strike in April and May over the company’s despicable response to matters of incredibly serious sexual harassment and assault within the workplace.
The workers are also striking in defence of a Unite shop steward fired on supposedly unrelated matters after he refused to allow the company to ignore the sexual harassment and assault issue. They believe he was suspended and then dismissed in retaliation for holding the company to account.
The individual at the centre of the allegations, who was in a managerial role, is no longer employed after the police were called.
The workers, however, are angry that Arriva previously dismissed the allegations as “banter” and “horseplay” and completely failed to offer adequate support to those impacted.
Multiple workers, including young apprentices, reported being subjected to unwanted touching, squeezing and striking, including kicking and striking in sensitive areas.
They also reported being exposed to simulated sexual acts and gestures as well as offensive and sexually explicit remarks about close family members. In addition, repeated intimidation, mocking and humiliation of staff was also reported.
The workers will strike from 27 April to 1 May, from 11 May to 15 May and 25 May to 29 May. Strike action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved. Strikes will severely impact Arriva’s bus operations in Luton and the surrounding area.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Arriva’s handling of this dreadful situation is despicable – it brings shame on the entire company. The concerns of these workers need to be addressed and our shop steward – fired for speaking out – must be reinstated. These workers have Unite’s complete backing in taking strike action until that happens.”
The suspension of the shop steward occurred shortly after the individual at the centre of the allegations left the company. In disciplinary meeting held last week, the shop steward was dismissed.
Unite regional officer Jeff Hodge said: “Arriva is entirely responsible for the disruption that will be caused to services. Not only has it tried to brush these incredibly serious matters under the carpet, it has fired a workplace rep for trying to prevent it from doing so. Strikes will continue to worsen until Arriva rights these wrongs.”
Unite DHL Cargo handlers dispute
London Luton Airport - Dec 2025
After three days of their strike, the company returned to the negotiating table and members were successful in getting a revised offer which was accepted on 5th January.
Unite news story
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ARRIVA Beds Herts & Bucks Strike Photos
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LLA DISPUTE
No summer picket line is complete without the obligatory BBQ
LUTON AIRPORT DISPUTE
After a shift pattern that has been in place for 7 years, the Company ‘realised’ they were paying staff 39 hours for 37.49 hours worked, and sought to rectify.
Reps put forward proposals of;
· Deduct the 1.51 hours per week from employees pay
· Staff work the additional 1.51 hours across their current pattern
· An large number of alternative shift patterns
LLAOL threw all these options out, now stating that there was also a shortfall in manning levels twice a month, which a few days later changed their message to there being a shortfall every day.
The company ran their own ‘employees vote’ across all affected staff (members and non-members) giving employees 3 options of their preferred shift pattern.
The result of their ‘ballot’ was a shift pattern resulted in a reduction in time off between rostered shifts and a further impact of members only spending 9 weekends a year with their family
Unite ran a consultative ballot of our members with the same 3 options plus a 4th option of ballot for industrial action if the Company won’t negotiate further, which returned a 95% vote.
As a result, we served notice on Monday 25th March of our intention to ballot our members, which closed on April 15th. Though we received a 95.1% vote for industrial action and offered talks to the Company, there was no response.
Strike dates commenced Wednesday 1st May, though we had offered to postpone any strike providing the Company delayed the implementation of the new shift pattern whilst we sought resolution, which they refused to do.
Subsequently Unite security members took action;
May 1st – May 5th
May 7th – May 13th
May 23rd – June 3rd
June 5th – July 23rd
Additional action included;
May 21st Members Demo held outside Luton Town Hall
May 24th Members Demo outside Civil Aviation Authority building in Holborn
June 14th Advan hired to drive around Luton for the day highlighting ’Tired Security – Bad for Staff, Bad for Passengers’
The Regional Officer and Political Officer met with Luton Borough Council on July 8th, to update LBC on the dispute and request that they use whatever influence they had in a bid to resolve the dispute.
Up to 23rd July, their final day of 12 week legal protection, members had taken 73 days of action.
They returned to work on July 24th while ACAS talks continued.
Company were insistent that the only shift pattern that suited business needs was the current pattern they had been moved onto.
At Unite’s request, an independent specialist in shift rosters was called in to look at alternatives to the original proposals.
This resulted in 2 new patterns that we agreed to take back to the members to vote on, along with the original 3.
We agreed that whilst talks remained positive, we would suspend any further action.
Following a ballot on 5 different options of shift patterns, one of the newly proposed patterns came out with a clear majority, with 75% of the workforce voting in favour.
Through the hard work of our Reps, our member’s resilience and solidarity, plus support from the Region, they have won a vast improvement to the current pattern, resulting in an increase in rest days between their rostered days plus an increase in the number of weekends that members spend with their family.
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Union Recruitment Drive
LTUC stall at the Bangladesh Youth League's 40th Anniversary Summer Fun Day 20th July 2019.
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