BA summer strike looms

A new strike lasting two weeks over the busiest part of the summer is being threatened by mixed-fleet cabin crew at British Airways in the long-running dispute over pay and travel concessions.

Members of the Unite union say they will walk out from 00:01 on Saturday 1 July until 23:59 on Sunday 16 July. The union also said it was taking legal action over cabin crew who say they have been punished for previous strike action.

A BA spokesman said: "As for previous periods (of similar strike action), we will fly all our customers to their destinations. This proposed action is extreme and completely unnecessary. We had reached a deal on pay, which Unite agreed was acceptable.”

The new strike call follows Unite, in what it said was a bid to resolve the dispute, suspending a planned four-day walk-out that had been planned to start on Friday. The bid failed when the union said BA failed to send its key decision makers to talks.

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: "The refusal by British Airways bosses to meaningfully consider our compromise offer is deeply disappointing. A resolution was within the grasp of British Airways, but … bosses rebuffed it.”

www.britishairways.com

www.unitetheunion.org

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum