BA and union leaders reach stalemate over threatened strikes
Chief executive of BA, Willie Walsh, said: "Unite, the union that represents our BA cabin crew, has not as yet announced any strike dates."
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Leaders for Unite and British Airways (BA) will be meeting later today to decide if, and when, strikes by cabin crew will be held.
Union leaders have until March 15th to announce a date for strike action, and it must give the airline a full week's notice before cabin crew can walk out over a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Cabin crew members represented by the union are angry with cost-cutting decisions made by the airline last year over pay, job losses and changes to their working conditions. Talks between BA and Unite have broken down without agreement this week, and as no deal has been reached it looks increasingly likely that cabin crew, who voted for strike action last month, will stage their protest in coming weeks.
Some 81 per cent of balloted members voted 'yes' for strike action.
Although the union has promised it will not strike over the Easter holidays - so as not to disturb plans organised by families over the period - it is now likely the crews will walk out this month.
Talks this week broke down after the union's proposed cost-cutting measures were rejected by the airline. Unite tweeted yesterday: "Stop press: new offer gone to BA. Unite offers more savings to save service. Done all BA asked for. Back to BA.."
Unite said the plans could save the airline £63 million, through a combination of pay cuts and an offer for some staff to work part-time. But the airline said this was unlikely to be the case.
The dispute began last November, and subsequent planned strikes over Christmas were prevented when BA gained a high court injunction ruling that the union's vote was invalid.
In a statement this morning chief executive of BA, Willie Walsh, said: "Unite, the union that represents our BA cabin crew, has not as yet announced any strike dates.
"In the meantime we continue to have talks with Unite and we want to resolve the issues between us.
"I wanted to update you on what we propose to do in the event that a strike does go ahead.
"A strike will not ground British Airways, we have had nearly 6,000 volunteers to support our flying programme, including nearly 1,000 who have trained as cabin crew and the number is growing.
"We have been putting plans into place and although we cannot announce the precise schedule we will operate until we know for sure what Unite would do, I can tell you what our plans are."
The airline also said that it would still be able to operate all flights from London City airport, including long-haul services to New York, all our long-haul flights at London Gatwick, and about half of all short-haul flights, and at London Heathrow, it will operate a "substantial proportion" of long-haul flights and a good number of short-haul flights, assisted by chartered aircraft with crews from a number of UK and European-based airlines.
The airline also announced it had arranged to secure seats from other carriers, and that passengers will be able to rebook, free of charge and subject to availability, onto other British Airways flights outside of the strike period for up to 355 days from the original date of travel.
Refunds will only be available if flights are actually cancelled or if the original booking conditions allow.
A statement from the union said: "Unite cabin crew members at British Airways recognise the pressures facing the company in the midst of the current economic crisis. Negotiations have been going on for over a year, but despite cabin crew being asked to make the heftiest sacrifices of all, British Airways continues to provoke cabin crew by imposing changes and refusing to negotiate openly and fairly."