Air passengers asked to ‘pack less’ in their trunks
12th February 2010
Passengers at airports across the UK and Europe will today (12
February) be asked to pack less in their bags to prevent the high
levels of injuries to baggage handlers who lift the equivalent to
the weight of an elephant every day.
Unite’s 'pack less' campaign is calling on airlines to introduce
a maximum individual bag weight of 23kg, a call backed by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Aviation Industry Committee and
the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The current
limit is 32kg per bag.
Steve Turner, Unite national officer, said: “Passengers across
the UK and Europe are being asked to pack less in their bags. Most
people think that baggage handling is fully automated, while the
reality is that a bag can be manually lifted up to a dozen times on
its journey.
“Baggage handlers lift the equivalent of the weight of an
elephant every day. They are five times more likely than any other
worker to suffer serious injuries - that unfortunately can lead to
permanent disability - because they are forced to handle very heavy
bags in often cramped conditions.”
Unite is also calling on the government and the HSE to do more
to protect baggage handlers.
The European Commission is currently looking into introducing
regulations to reduce the amount of muscular musculo-skeletal
injuries suffered by workers across Europe. Unite will be putting
pressure on the government to ensure that the safety of ground
handling staff is addressed at a European level.
The ‘pack less’ day of action is supported by the European
Transport Workers’ Federation which is pushing for European wide
regulation. The event at Heathrow is the focus for the European day
of action and representatives from 15 European trade unions will be
leafleting passengers. There are also events at every major hub in
Europe including Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam and
Copenhagen.
Unite has had some success in getting airline industry to
introduce the new lighter weight. Thompsons, the UK’s largest
holiday charter company, has recently introduced a 23kg maximum bag
weight for all their customers. Other airlines have also made moves
to address the issue, often by charging passengers additional fees
when checking in heavy bags, but the union believes more needs to
be done with a consistently applied and enforceable industry
standard adopted.
Unite members at Heathrow, Manchester, East Midlands, Exeter and
Bristol are also leafleting passengers on Friday’s day of
action.
ENDS
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