Written evidence submitted by GMB London Region (HEN0043)

Introduction

1. GMB is the third largest trade union in the UK and GMB London is one of the largest unions representing members across a range of employers linked to Heathrow. Our members have a clear interest in the future of Heathrow and we, as an organisation, fully support the plans to expand Heathrow.

2. We are one of the largest unions in the aviation sector, with members covering everything from; plane catering, security, check-ins, customer services, business/VIP lounge hospitality, aircraft cleaning (turnaround), retail outlets in terminals, hotels and ground handling. We also cover thousands of members in the interlocking auxiliary network that supports the current airport, from businesses that help make the very food served on planes to the drivers of the private hire vehicles that pick up and drop off passengers from providers, such as Uber (where we are the largest union).

3. We believe, from listening to our members across our related aviation and transport linked union branches, that Britain needs to develop first class infrastructure and stimulate the economy through projects that go beyond piecemeal tinkering. The expansion plans for Heathrow are a best-in-class example of what our nation should be doing to retain its place as a world-leading economy.

Overview

GMB's Position on Heathrow Expansion

4. We approach this submission as the union for the people who will build and run an expanded Heathrow, and we judge our position by what the outcome will deliver for our members. On that measure the draft HENPS earns our support. It is grounded in real evidence; it keeps the strategic case for expansion separate from the planning details that will follow. Most importantly, it weighs the economic, community and environmental questions in one place rather than pitting them against each other.

5. We are in favour of creating fulfilling, well-paid and unionised jobs for those linked to the Heathrow expansion; especially its construction, development and onward operational staffing. Similarly to other recent large-scale projects, most notably the expansion of Sizewell C, GMB firmly believes that Britain needs to retain and expand its competitive advantage and build the infrastructure of the future today, not tomorrow.

6. We stand firm in our belief that Heathrow’s expansion is an overall benefit to our members, the local area, Greater London and the wider UK. We will never fully see eye-to-eye with every employer on every matter linked to Heathrow, nor should we, that is not our job. However, where we align, and on this project, we do, we believe that it would be remiss not to state what we see as the significant benefits of Heathrow expansion for our members.

Employment, Skills and Local Communities

7. Employment remains our primary concern. Well-paid, secure work brings dignity and certainty, which leads to greater productivity. We foresee sizeable upward benefits created from the construction phase onwards. These will, in many cases, be good, secure and unionised roles for thousands of people. While not all opportunities will be for local people, we believe local businesses will invest further too in their operations once more certainty is known, compounding the potential economic growth for local communities.

8. Our members wish to build, run and sustain Heathrow, and it is worth stating plainly that the people GMB represents are the human infrastructure of this project; from the construction workers who will lay the foundations of a third runway to the ground handlers, security officers, caterers, cleaners and retail staff who will keep the airport moving.

9. The case for expansion is not only national, but also deeply local. Heathrow sits within one of the most diverse and, in parts, deprived communities in West London, where good and secure employment remains out of reach for far too many residents. Hillingdon has an unemployment rate of 7%, higher than the London average. We believe expansion is an opportunity for local communities by connecting residents in need with apprenticeships, training and long-term careers. The cost of delay is therefore not an abstract one, but one that should be measured in missed opportunities for many people who can least afford to wait.

10. We live in a skills economy. GMB believes there are substantial opportunities to be explored further to alleviate local unemployment and the skills deficit. The expansion will bring opportunities for apprenticeships, valued work and upskilling. It will also continue to feed the pipeline of roles for those involved in large-scale projects across the UK.

Economic, Freight and National Growth Benefits

11. We would also observe that Heathrow is not only a passenger gateway but the UK's single largest port by value. It is processing around £300bn of goods every year and expansion would increase cargo capacity by up to 50%; the long-haul bellyhold freight that a hub airport carries being a distinctive benefit that simply cannot be replicated at other airports. For the ground handling, turnaround and logistics members we represent, this is a direct and substantial source of secure work. Therefore, it should be recognised that the freight capacity improvements expansion will provide, would lead to significant employment opportunities.

12. As one of the main unions for UK steel and manufacturing, we believe it should also be observed that there will be substantial value created by the boost generated by Heathrow’s expansion. The impact will be felt on a patchwork of industries, sectors and service providers well beyond the immediate location.

13. We believe it is important to note that the expansion will also support growth across a range of supply chains and locations, and it is also worth mentioning that the plans are privately, and not publicly, financed; meaning the risk for UK taxpayers is removed and no hard choices are necessary over picking between publicly funded projects. At £33bn in private investment for a third runway, this is no small sum. Set against this, the scale of the prize is considerable, with expansion having the potential to unlock approximately £17bn a year for the UK economy, a sum equivalent to funding the National Health Service for a full month of every year.

14. We cannot continue with the status quo. After 15 years of operating at capacity and missed opportunities, we should not overlook one of the largest gateways to the global economy on our own doorstep. Britain should not be losing market share to other aviation hubs such as Dubai, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam. It should also be expanding connectivity to the world’s secondary cities, many of which have emerged over the last few decades across both India and China.

Connectivity and Benefits Across the UK

15. Equally, and unlike other UK airports, Heathrow is a hub airport with a unique supply chain whose benefits reach far beyond the immediate surrounding area. Heathrow already invests over £1bn a year in British businesses and expansion would unlock billions more in every nation and region of the country.

16. Research from Frontier Economics identifies Belfast International, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool John Lennon, Teesside International and Cornwall Airport Newquay as those most likely to gain substantially from new Heathrow connections. These links could bolster up to £335m in additional tourism spending and, with it, trade, investment and jobs well beyond the South East. As a union representing members across the length and breadth of the country, we would stress that this is precisely the kind of nationwide dividend that should be welcomed by all.

Workforce Challenges and Conditions for Success

17. Across our Heathrow linked workplace branches in aviation and transport, we currently have active campaigns ranging from the fight against the abuse of airport workers (stemming from aggressive passengers), to the current state of the airport’s car parking facilities for low paid workers, to combating security staff contract precarity, to negotiating general pay and conditions and addressing issues surrounding the low pay of workers in direct and indirect supply chains.

18. However, we must be clear, that the benefits of expansion cannot simply be assumed, they must be built in. The construction and operational phases should therefore deliver secure, directly employed and unionised jobs where possible, rather than any proliferation of insecure agency and outsourced arrangements that drive pay and conditions down across the site. Where we currently see churn in security contracts, examples of low pay embedded in the direct and indirect supply chains, and inadequate facilities for some of the lowest-paid workers on site, we see a risk that a nationally significant project could be delivered on the backs of a workforce that shares too little of its rewards. We firmly believe that this would be a failure of ambition, not a mark of efficiency. Expansion done well is expansion that lifts the workforce with it.

Summary

Support for Expansion

19. We would like to thank the Transport Select Committee for providing us, as a stakeholder, with the opportunity to express our members’ views during this stage in the process. We believe the expansion of Heathrow provides significant job opportunities in transport connectivity, construction, retail, aviation and security. Unlocking growth that ripples well beyond the surrounding area and that must be felt first by the workforce and communities who currently make Heathrow work.

20. However, our members remain concerned about the potential for proposals to stagnate if untimely delays are baked into the plans and uncertainty is allowed to fester. For investment to be unleashed there must be certainty. To prepare training of the talented workers of tomorrow there must be a defined timeline. For expanding the workforce significantly there must be guarantees. As with most things involving multiple stakeholders, we appreciate that a thorough process is required, we only hope that this does not feed into greater uncertainty, slowing investment and undermining efforts to date.

21. The cost of delay is not theoretical; the Government has set a clear ambition of a development consent order by 2029 and a runway opening by 2035. Every year of slippage against that timeline is estimated to cost £3bn, rising to as much as £40bn over a decade. For our members, those figures translate directly into apprenticeships and training schemes not available, jobs not created and human potential not fulfilled. For investment to be made, certainty must be in place. Therefore, we recommend concrete decisions must be made in an orderly, but timely, fashion. At all costs, a planning white elephant must be avoided.

A National Ambition for Infrastructure

22. If Heathrow’s expansion is to leave a lasting skills legacy there must be apprenticeships and training tied to the surrounding boroughs. A workforce treated fairly is one where secure employment is the rule rather than the exception, in place of the agency and outsourcing arrangements that so often degrade pay and conditions. We recommend that, similarly to Sizewell C, serious consideration is given to the jobs guarantees provided in that project for local people.

23. We recommend that the positive impacts of Heathrow expansion are understood and that we are not blinded by those who believe we are so reduced as a nation that we cannot build large-scale infrastructure projects. We must restore our standing as an ambitious and confident nation, one able to see the opportunities that not just building, but building boldly, holds for aviation, transport and supply chains. Underpinning this all are people, whose prospects of putting food on the table should be seen as the face of any abstract numbers on a page.

24. We recommend that there are wider binding agreements on any social value commitments, and that these are also correctly measured. That as part of the process, especially for tendering, a value is added to contractors who recognise a union and that where facilities are built, staff welfare (on matters such as rest facilities, staff transport and a safe future working environment) come factored into plans. Overall, the legacy of the project should be one centred on the creation of jobs and the expansion of a skilled workforce.

25. We would add that GMB has a constructive working relationship with Heathrow Airport Limited, and that experience shapes our view here. A scheme of this complexity, delivered while the airport continues to operate, requires an organisation that already understands the site, its workforce and its unions. On that basis and with the interests of the thousands of members we represent across the site foremost in mind, we believe Heathrow Airport Limited is best placed to deliver expansion in a way that works for all stakeholders, and for our members above all.

Further evidence

26. We would like to conclude by stating, given our role of giving a voice to everyday people who will benefit from Heathrow’s expansion, that for thousands of workers there is now a tangible prospect of progress. We would welcome a chance to provide oral evidence of our members’ views, and if invited, we would welcome the opportunity to bring our expertise to the committee during the next phase.

July 2026