BA cabin crew to strike over cuts

Mar 12 2010

British Airways cabin crew are to stage a series of strikes in a bitter row over cost-cutting, threatening travel chaos for tens of thousands of passengers.

Unite said its members at the airline will walk out for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27 following the collapse of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.

But Unite also announced it will ballot its 12,000 cabin crew members on a new offer tabled at the 11th hour by the airline, giving a glimmer of hope that the strikes can be averted.

Cabin crew will vote electronically on the new offer and the result is expected next week, before the first strike is due to go ahead. BA has drawn up contingency plans to deal with the strikes, with up to 1,000 volunteer staff ready to work as cabin crew, including hundreds of pilots. The airline has also said it will hire 23 fully-crewed planes from charter companies to help run flights from Heathrow.

Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary, said BA had turned down a "remarkable" offer from the union which he maintained would have given the airline everything it wanted.

"This offer gives the lie to the smears that these skilled and professional employees are mindless militants indifferent to BA's difficulties or are defending a privileged position. The company contests our calculations but quibbles over the precise costing of our concessions pale into insignificance compared to the losses BA will sustain in the event of an industrial dispute."

Mr McCluskey said it was right that cabin crew should vote on the new offer although he said it fell short of what the union believed was needed to resolve the dispute. Unite will make no recommendation on the offer and warned that further industrial action will be held after April 14 if the dispute remains unresolved.

BA said it was "extremely disappointed" by the decision to strike and added that the action would cause "massive disruption".

"Unite's action has no shred of justification," said a spokesman. "British Airways' crew are rightly renowned for their professionalism and skills. Our entire package for crew recognises that and is reasonable and fair.

"British Airways is facing two years of record financial losses. Unlike other businesses, we have avoided compulsory redundancies and made changes designed to secure a long-term future for our company and our staff. Cabin crew face no pay cut or reduction in terms and conditions - and remain the best rewarded in the UK airline industry."