BA crew to stage 16-day strike
Cabin crew at British Airways are to hold a 16-day strike next month.
The action is planned from Saturday July 1 to Sunday July 16.
Since the start of this year, BA has suffered from 26 days of strike action, forcing it to cancel flights and charter aircraft from other airlines such as Titan Airways, Vueling and Thomson Airways to cover striking crew.
Unite the union said its members, who are in the mixed fleet crew, have voted to strike after BA refused to accept the the union’s final compromise position on the outstanding issue of the sanctioning of striking cabin crew.
In addition to the industry action, Unite said it would ‘vigorously’ pursue legal action against BA to the ‘highest court in the land’ on behalf of 1,400 cabin crew, who were sanctioned for taking strike action in a long-running pay dispute.
Sanctions have included removing bonus payments worth hundreds of pounds and also staff travel concessions.
Last week Unite suspended a planned four-day strike due to start today hoping to resolve the dispute through fresh talks.
But it said BA failed to send key decision makers to the talks, prompting the union to write to BA bosses with a final compromise position for acceptance by noon today.
"The refusal by BA bosses to meaningfully consider our compromise offer is deeply disappointing," said Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett.
"A resolution to this long-running dispute was within the grasp of BA, but instead of grabbing that opportunity, bosses rebuffed it. It now means BA faces an entirely avoidable two week strike and prolonged legal action on behalf of over 1,400 mixed cabin crew.
"Unite believes the divisive way BA has targeted striking members of cabin crew is unlawful and amounts to blacklisting. The airline should be under no illusion of Unite’s intent to pursue justice on behalf of its members all the way to the highest court in the land.
"We would urge BA bosses to come to their senses and think again."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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