Unite union leaders have been urged to call almost three weeks of strikes at British Airways as they prepare to meet cabin crew representatives today to discuss next moves.
The recommendations were made by some union officials to their leadership after Unite members voted overwhelmingly – 81%, on a turnout of 71% – on Friday to reject BA’s proposals to end a dispute over staffing levels, which started last summer.
The officials proposed calling for five-day stoppages, broken up by three 24-hour ‘breather’ days, in what would effectively amount to 23 days of disruption. Although it was unclear whether leaders such as Tony Woodley, Unite’s joint general secretary, would endorse the move, what is certain is that the union would need to give seven days notice of any proposed action. As a result, any strike activity could not begin before next Monday at the earliest.
When the result of the ballot was announced last week, Unite said: “BA management should take note of their own employees’ strong rejection of their offer and immediately address the outstanding concerns.” The union had “strongly recommended” that its 12,000 BA staff members reject the proposal.
But BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh did appear to give ground on the issue at the heart of the dispute last month when he offered to restore some of the crew positions that BA cut as part of its activity to cut costs.
The organisation is now on track to make a second consecutive year of losses, after generating a pre-tax loss of £401 million last year. Disruption to flights caused by the Icelandic volcano in April cost it £180 million, while cabin crew strikes in March cost its £45 million, according to the airline.
But Walsh has failed to meet two other union demands – one to reinstate discounted travel benefits to all striking staff on an equal basis and the other to address what Unite has described as ‘draconian’ punishments for more than 50 staff facing suspension or dismissal on charges arising from the dispute.
According to the Financial Times, however, there are hints that BA is preparing to take potential legal action against Unite. Last week, it wrote to Woodley asking if the union was preparing to strike over travel and disciplinary issues rather than the staff cuts on which it based its February ballot, which gave it a legal mandate for action.
