Strikers plan joint go-slow

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 8

Strikers plan joint go-slow

NZPA-Reuter London Militant assistant air traffic controllers, whose five-day-old strike has disrupted flights over Britain, plan to launch a joint go-slow with French and Spanish controllers that could cause unprecedented chaos in Europe’s air lanes, strike officials have disclosed. The move, they said, could pose a powerful new threat to air traffic in the busy West European sector, especially when the British assistants end their stoppage at noon (N.Z. time) today and switch off a key computer in London. A spokesman for the French Air Controllers’ Union said yesterday that union leaders would meet to consider a call from the British strikers to co-ordi-nate action in France, Britain, and Spain. The British strike continued to cause severe disruption at British airports yesterday, with some flights delayed up to 20 hours.

However, airline officials claimed these delays were primarily caused by slowdowns already being applied in French and Spanish control towers. The State-run British Airways, the carrier hardest hit by the crisis, claimed there was a gradual improvement in services on Sunday. But it w'as expected to deteriorate when the assistants resume the go-slow they maintained for 10 days before launching the strike over Britain’s August Bank Holiday, a peak period for air travel. The assistants have said they will switch off the computer at West Drayton on London’s western outskirts. The computer, manned by non-striking senior controllers during the stride, synchronises all flight operations, from Scotland to Southern England. Spanish controllers began a go-slow a year ago, and the French launched a 10day go-slow on Friday. Both groups demand pay raises.