Judge orders BA cabin crew to stay on the job
LONDON – A British judge has given a reprieve to hundreds of thousands of airline passengers facing Christmas travel chaos due to a planned strike by British Airways cabin staff.
The strike call has been declared illegal in a High Court ruling after the judge agreed with BA that the cabin crew’s union, Unite, had not correctly balloted its members on the industrial action.
The injunction means the 12-day strike, in protest over job losses and a pay freeze, cannot now go ahead.
The decision stalls any strike action for several weeks and would need a fresh ballot to proceed.
Union bosses, angered by a decision they called "a disgraceful day for democracy" vowed to hold a fresh ballot of cabin crew if the dispute with BA was not resolved.
The judge in the case, Mrs Justice Cox, questioned the timing of the planned strike.
"A strike of this kind over the 12 days of Christmas is fundamentally more damaging to BA and the wider public than a strike taking place at almost any other time of the year," she said.
In a statement, BA said, "In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward.
"It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability."
The union warned the dispute was "far from settled".
Ian Jarrett
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