BA cabin crew vote to strike
22.02.10
British Airways face the threat of strikes after cabin crew voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions. Unite said that 78.77% of the 11,691 ballot papers issued were returned. Of those 80.7% (7,482) supported taking action with 1,789 voting against it.
However, support for the strike was lower than in an earlier ballot late last year, which had a higher turnout and saw 92.4% of those voting backing a strike. That vote, which would have led to twelve days of stoppages over Christmas, was deemed illegal by the High Court.
Unite said it would not be announcing strike dates in the immediate future as it hoped to continue negotiations with BA management. Legally, the union must give a week's notice of any strike action - meaning strikes could begin from the first week of March. Unite has already pledged that there will not be stoppages over the Easter period, although an online poll of BA staff has suggested that it is something they would back.
Unite's general secretary, Len McCluskey, said the ballot result was ‘a clear indication of the deep sense of grievance that our members feel. We can only hope that BA management will now recognise the only way to resolve this is through negotiation, not through litigation and certainly not through intimidation.'
An airline spokesman said some progress had been made during recent talks and that it would do everything it could to protect customers' travel plans should strikes take place. Reports yesterday suggest that 3500 non cabin crew staff have agreed to help the airline in the event of a strike. BA has also threatened to take away generous travel perks for workers who do strike, which would hit those living away from their home base - often abroad - and commuting on BA flights to work particularly hard.
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