Packing less pays off
November 27 was a key day for baggage handlers around Europe.

Passengers at airports across the UK and Europe were asked to pack less in their bags to prevent the high levels of injuries to baggage handlers.

Unite’s campaign “Lighten up” has called on airlines to introduce a maximum bag weight of 23 kilogrammes, a call backed by the Health and Safety Executive, the Aviation Industry Committee and the International Air Transport Association. The current bag limit is 32 kilogrammes.

Unite’s campaign has succeeded in getting some airlines to introduce the new lighter weight. Thompsons, the UK’s largest holiday charter company, has recently introduced a 23 kilogramme maximum bag weight for all its customers. Other airlines have also made moves to address the issue, but the union believes more needs to be done.

Steve Turner, Unite’s National Officer said: “Passengers across the UK and Europe were asked to pack less in their bags. Most people think that baggage handling is fully automated. The reality is that a bag can be lifted up to a dozen times on a journey by baggage handlers who, on average, lift the weight of an elephant every day.”

Unite’s campaign has been taken up by European trade union body, the European Transport Federation, which is organising events at most major airports across Europe including Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Unite is calling on the government to put pressure on the HSE to strengthen regulations in this area. There is a currently an opportunity during the revision of the EU directive on ground handling and the union wants the government to ensure that the need for more protection for ground handling staff is taken up by other European states.