SECURITY staff at Manchester airport stepped up their industrial action today in a dispute over proposed job cuts.

More than 200 workers took to the picket line at 4am at the start of a 36-hour strike over plans to cut hundreds of jobs, slash wages, cut holidays and introduce new rosters.

Members of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) maintained that the dispute was more about the safety of passengers travelling through airports than about changes in working conditions.