BA cabin crew strike talks break down without agreement
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Talks between British Airways and the Unite union aimed at averting strike action by cabin crew have broken down without agreement.
The TUC, which has been hosting the discussions, said that no deal had been reached, and no further talks were scheduled to be held.
BA cabin crew voted for strike action last month over cuts and changes to working conditions. However, it is still unclear whether any strike action will go ahead.
Unite leaders will meet later to discuss their next move, while BA says it is open to further talks. It looks increasingly likely that strike dates will be announced.
If it goes ahead with strike action, the union must announce the strike dates by Monday 15 March - the day when the union's mandate for industrial action runs out.
That follows the ballot of Unite cabin crew members last month, when 81% voted in favour of strikes.
Under industrial relations law, the union must give seven days notice of strike action, and it has already pledged not to strike over the Easter holidays.
The latest talks collapsed after a union-proposed cost-cutting package was rejected by BA. Unite said the plans could save the airline £63m,through a combination of pay cuts and an offer for some staff to work part-time.
BA said the proposals would not save the airline £63m and "would require pay cuts for crew of between £1,000 and £2,700 a year".
The airline said its own proposals would save £62.5m from "minor changes to onboard crew numbers and [would] involve no reduction in earnings for existing crew".
The current dispute between BA and its cabin crew began in November last year, when BA announced plans to cut the number of cabin crew on long-haul flights, and freeze pay for two years.
Unite complained that it had not been adequately consulted on the plans, and balloted members on strike action.
Despite overwhelming support from union members, a strike planned for Christmas was blocked by an injunction after the High Court declared it illegal.
BA said it was already preparing contingency plans for a possible strike, and had trained up 1,000 staff as cabin crew in order to cover during any strike action.
Jamie Bowden, an aviation analyst and former BA employee, said that BA had up to 7,000 crew to work on aircraft, and was also preparing to allow other airlines to fly BA passengers in order to minimise disruption.
"With 7,000 crew ready to work the strike cannot be as effective as Unite would like it to be," he said.
BA remains under pressure to cut costs after reporting huge losses in recent months.
Last month it said it lost £342m for the last nine months of 2009. That followed an annual loss of more than £400m reported in May.