BA cabin crew to strike for 48 hours
British Airways cabin crew will walk out for 48-hours next week after rejecting a new pay offer.
Their union Unite has called a strike from Tuesday, January 10. The union had postponed action during Christmas to consider the new deal proposed by BA.
Next week’s strike will affect ‘mixed fleet’ staff who joined BA after 2010. In total, they account for 15% of cabin crew.
In a statement, BA said it planned to ‘ensure that all our customers travel to their destinations’.
It said details of any flight changes would be published this Friday after it has finalised contingency plans.
"We are extremely disappointed that Unite has once again chosen to target our customers," the airline said.
"We are now focused on protecting our customers from this unnecessary and completely unjustified action."
BA said crew represented by Unite operate only a minority of flights from London Heathrow and flights from Gatwick, Stansted and London City won’t be affected by the industrial action.
The dispute concerns about 4,000 crew, of which about 2,500 are Unite members. The unions say they are promised earnings of between £21,000 and £25,000 but in reality receive just over £12,000 plus £3 an hour flying pay.
It said its members had rejected BA’s new pay offer by 7-1 and the union claimed that it had announced a walk-out for next Tuesday only because the airline had refused to extend the mandate of the strike vote to allow for further talks.
The union only has 28 days to call a strike once members have voted in favour, unless the airline agrees to an extension, it said.
"British Airways is needlessly provoking strike action by refusing to extend the mandate of the strike ballot and allow meaningful talks to take place," Unite’s national office Oliver Richardson said.
"Instead of listening to why its mixed fleet cabin crew rejected the offer negotiated at Acas, British Airways has sought instead to try and bully a workforce of young men and women who are trying to eke out a living on poverty pay."
However, he said the union was ‘hopeful’ that a settlement could still be reached.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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