British Airways and Unite announce deadline for negotiations
British Airways and Unite announce deadline for negotiations next week following long-running dispute
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Friday, 05, Mar 2010 05:12
By Sarah Garrod.
The ongoing dispute between British Airways (BA) and the Unite union must reach a deal by March 9th, it has today been announced.
The Trade Unions Council (TUC) announced in a statement this afternoon that the airline and union have agreed they will make a decision on "whether or not a mutually acceptable settlement can be achieved" by Tuesday.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has been chairing the talks over the last seven weeks, which were sparked by plans from BA to cut its operating costs. As part of the cuts the airline made cabin crew redundancies; a move the union says it was not consulted on.
Channel 4 News reported this afternoon that BA has said it is willing to scrap those cuts in personnel if the union presents an alternative plan to make those savings.
In December the airline went to court with the aim of getting an injunction against Unite's plans for strike action over Christmas. An injunction was imposed, meaning a 12-day strike could not go ahead.
The walkouts were prompted after the airline made job cuts and froze pay, but while the union has fought the decision, BA has continued to defend its cost-cutting measures as imperative to keeping the company's head above water, after suffering heavy financial losses since the global financial crisis began.