Workers at East Midlands Airport face 'unacceptable abuse' - union

GMB said workers based at East Midlands Airport had received "unacceptable abuse"

Airport workers are facing "unacceptable" levels of abuse, a union has claimed.

GMB surveyed 100 members, who work at East Midlands Airport employed by third party companies, finding 70% had received verbal abuse from passengers.

Nathan Keightley, an aircraft dispatcher for Swissport at EMA, called for more to be done on the issue.

Swissport said it shared the union's concerns, while EMA said no one working there deserved to be abused.

Nathan Keightley has called for a reduction in abuse towards airport workers

GMB's survey, which was answered by members who work in passenger-facing roles at the site but are not employed by the airport itself, found 62% of respondents felt unsafe going into work due to abuse or aggressive behaviour from passengers, with half saying they had considered changing jobs as a result.

The survey also found 37% of respondents said they had received abuse that had taken the form of discrimination, including racist and sexist remarks.

GMB has called for the aviation industry to do more to tackle the issue ahead of the summer holiday rush.

Post-Covid increase

Mr Keightley, who is also a GMB rep, said: "[Workers] get a lot of verbal abuse on a daily basis. They get shouted at, sworn at. There has been some physical abuse in the past and it's just unacceptable.

"People are here to do a job. It's a very difficult job with long, unsocial hours."

Mr Keightley said travellers need to understand that "people are only doing their job and don't deserve to be shouted at".

He added that post-Covid he had seen an increase in abuse, with the 10-year rule on passports also causing "a lot of problems".

Customer and planning director for EMA, Mike Grimes, said: "This survey does not relate to staff who work for East Midlands Airport, but we take the welfare of our own staff very seriously and it goes without saying that nobody working here deserves to receive abuse.

"The most recent survey of our employees shows that 79% feel physically safe at work."A spokesperson for Swissport said they were "supportive of the work to highlight this issue", adding that "robust mechanisms" were in place to support workers.