Heathrow Express staff who are members of the RMT union have voted for industrial action on the train route between the airport and London Paddington station.
The RMT said that the result of the ballot was “almost nine to one” in favour of going on strike in a dispute over Heathrow Express’ plans to save £6 million over the next five years through a reorganisation of the workforce.
The union is calling for its Heathrow Express members to strike for 48 hours from 03.00 on April 29. Heathrow Express has vowed to continue running services if a walkout goes ahead.
Acting general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT does not buy for a moment the case for handing out savage cuts to Heathrow Express when Heathrow is generating handouts to shareholders of over £600 million.
“Our members have now sent the clearest possible message in this ballot that they are prepared to stand up and fight the cuts and the threat to pay, working conditions and jobs.”
“The planned axing of jobs, and the associated freezing and hacking back of pay and working conditions, is a kick in the teeth for the staff who have made Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect the success story that they are today.”
Keith Greenfield, managing director of Heathrow Express, said: “We remain eager to continue our productive discussions with RMT union reps and we still hope they choose to resolve the dispute around the table rather than through damaging industrial action.
“A strike is not the answer. It will increase costs when we are trying to reduce them, taking us further away from what we need to do to secure our business for the future.
“However, we will not let it stop us providing an excellent service for our customers. We have a robust contingency plan that will enable us to run regular trains for as long as any industrial action lasts.”
In a separate dispute, RMT members on the London Underground are set to strike for five days for two days from 21.00 on April 28 and then for three days from 21.00 on May 5.