STANSTED AIRPORT faces delays when disabled passenger assistants go on strike next week after being offered a pay rise “barely worth a tin of beans,” Unite said today.

An overwhelming 97 per cent of the ABM workers voted to walk out from April 17 to 20 after rejecting an offer of a 1p rise to their hourly rates in the first year and a further 2 or 3p in the second year.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is one of the meanest so-called pay rises imaginable. Dedicated workers will have to work for an entire week just to buy a tin of beans.

“It is beyond contempt that a profitable company such as ABM is choosing to prioritise greed and exposing its workers to a real-terms pay cut. Our members at ABM will be fully supported by Unite throughout this dispute.”

An ABM spokesperson commented: “We are disappointed that industrial action is to be taken given our constructive engagement with Unite the Union.

“The offer we have proposed is a structured, staged pay increase over time, designed to provide an uplift to hourly rates.”