BA cabin crew vote for strike action
Updated on 22 February 2010
Members of BA's cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a row over jobs and working conditions.
The Unite union said it members had voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action, which could cause chaos for BA passengers ahead of Easter.
More than 80 per cent of those who voted said yes to industrial action on a turnout of 78 per cent. Unite said 7,482 of its members voted in favour of action, with 1,789 voting against.
A mass meeting of union members will be held on Thursday, when the dates of any strike actions will be announced.
It has promised not to run the walk-outs over the Easter holidays.
Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said: "With this overwhelming vote in the teeth of BA harassment and media misrepresentation, BA's cabin crew have made clear that the deep sense of grievance they feel about their treatment by their employer remains."
The airline said in a statement, "The outcome of Unite's ballot is very disappointing and brings a renewed threat of industrial action, which is completely unjustified.
"In the weeks before and during the ballot period, Unite claimed that we had breached individual crew members' contracts by making modest changes to on-board crew numbers on flights from Heathrow.
"We have always said this claim was false and it was rejected by the High Court three days ago."
New strike threat
It is the second time BA cabin crew have voted in favour of taking strike action. In December, they voted 92.4% in favour on a turnout of 80%.
That strike was cancelled after BA won a challenge in the high court, on the basis that the union had polled a number of members who had already taken voluntary redundancy.
This forced the cancellation of a 12-day strike which was planned to run over the holiday period.
The union also lost a separate high court challenge, over BA's changes to the number of cabin crew on their flights. It had claimed the reduction of the number of in-flight crew constituted a change to their contracts.
The court ruled that the changes were legal.
The strike threatens to put a halt to a revival in BA's commercial fortunes. It surprised analysts by announcing a £25m operating profit for the last three months of 2009, after a disastrous loss in the previous financial year.
This profit was partly achieved by BA's cost-cutting programme. It has shed nearly 4000 workers since April 2009, as well as the beneficial effect of lower fuel prices and the fall of the pound.
The company still expects to post a record breaking loss for the 2009-10, but the latest set of results has been greeted by analysts as a sign that things are about to turn around.
A prolonged strike could jeopardise the revival of its fortunes.
BA has been training other staff, including pilots, to take the place of cabin crew if action is held.
