AROUND 170 Unite security workers at Glasgow airport will be balloted for strike, after ICTS failed to table a “fair pay offer” despite soaring profits.

The company coined-in £7.6 million in profit last year, 57 per cent up on a year earlier.

But the key security workers who cover passenger search areas, mobile patrols, screen deliveries and deal with emergency services argue this was not reflected in the latest pay offer.

Launching the strike ballot, which, if successful, could mean disruption during a summer rush that will this year include fans flocking to the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “ICTS is a highly profitable company that can fully afford to make a decent pay offer.

“The company’s cavalier attitude and failure to make a fair pay offer has created this dispute.”

Warning the airport “simply can’t operate” without the security workers, Unite industrial officer Carrie Donoghue added:

“It is ICTS that is putting the travelling public at risk during an expected very busy summer due to the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.”

ICTS was contacted for comment.