BA and Unite in talks to avert strikes
Updated on 16 December 2009
With 12 days of strikes over Christmas looming, British Airways and the Unite union are meeting now to try to resolve their dispute.
BA also went to court today to argue that the strike ballot should be ruled invalid. But it has continued to negotiate with the union ahead of a planned walkout by cabin crews starting next Tuesday.
Unite has accused BA of imposing new terms and conditions on staff, but the joint general secretary of the union, Derek Simpson, said 12 days of industrial action was "probably over the top".
The airline's boss, Willie Walsh, had always threatened to get his lawyers looking over how the strike ballot took place in minute detail. They now seek to persuade a judge that the ballot was not lawful.
Council for British Airways told the court that the Union had knowingly acted in an unlawful fashion and was negligent in organising its ballot.
They said it had encouraged hundreds of members to take part in the ballot even though they were part of BA's voluntary redundancy scheme, and would therefore no longer be employed by the company when the strike happened.
The union's lawyers will give their version of events tomorrow, and the judge has said she will make a decision tomorrow afternoon.
The union will argue it took all reasonable steps and that a few hundred illegitimate votes are irrelevant when more than 10,000 voted for strike action and did so overwhelmingly. In favour of strike action yes - but it did not say 12 days of strikes over Christmas and New Year on the ballot.
BA cabin crew said on websites about the 12 day action: "It's about a company finally trying to wrest control of itself back from a militant entrenched union" and "What absolutely sickened and disgusted me were the scenes of my cabin crew friends and colleagues engaging in 'mob frenzy' and displayed on national TV! It was disgraceful and disgusting."
There not alone. The joint general secretary of the Unite union, Derek Simpson, admitted on GMTV that the proposed 12-day strike was "unusual" and "probably over the top".
Unite's joint leader Tony Woodley told Channel 4 News at Noon that strike action will be called off if BA agrees to negotiate changes to cabin crew conditions.
"Suspend your action, which has caused so much anger among good people and the strike will be off," he said.
BA said the Union knows very well that the company cannot suspend the package go back to original crew numbers because of voluntary redundancy.
Talks are continuing at an undisclosed location which could yet make the expensive High Court action pointless. But thus far a breakthrough is exactly what look most elusive.
In case you favour the train rather than the plane to Brussels or Paris, Eurostar drivers from the ASLEF union are on strike for forty-eight hours after their talks fell apart this afternoon.
Passenger misery
Passengers booked on BA flights over Christmas are in a difficult position. Should they try to make alternative arrangements with another airline or train company, knowing they will be paying a premium price for a late booking that will not be fully reimbursed by BA? What if they do this and the strike is then called off?
It is not just those leaving over the Christmas period who are affected. Many of the passengers passing through London's Paddington station enroute to Heathrow have tickets back on potential strike days. They need to decide now whether to risk getting stuck abroad.
There are as many already abroad who will be affected as there are yet to go.
British Airways says they are likely to offer passengers a choice of three options - rebook, refund or reroute. It is possible to rebook now - if you can delay your travels the airline will put you on any available flight you choose within the next twelve months. The other two options will only be available if the strike goes ahead.
The airline is working on a skeleton timetable for the strike period, which they aim to get out before the weekend.
If your flight is cancelled, BA will give refunds or will reroute you on a partner or rival airline if they can find space.
If you want to rebook with another airline now, you will pay a last minute premium and BA will only refund what you paid them - often much less. There will be no refund if the strike is called off.
If the aviaton industry was not having enough problems, it was announced that baggage handlers at Heathrow and Aberdeen airports are set to hold a series of 48-hour strikes in a row over pay.
The Unite union said members working for SAS Ground Services would walk out from 22 December, with further strikes from Boxing Day and 3 January.
Scotland's biggest airline, Edinburgh-based Flyglobespan, has also been placed in administration. It employs 600 people.
