British Airways (BA) has confirmed that cabin crew members belonging to the Unite Union representing one of its five cabin crew fleets are to take strike action on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 January 2017.

 

This follows the earlier suspension of threatened strike action over Christmas while crew member considered a new offer from the airline.

 

However, this offer has since been rejected on a ballot by a ratio of seven to one by the so-called ‘mixed fleet’ crew who account for around 15% of the airline’s total cabin attendant numbers.

 

In a statement, British Airways said: “We are extremely disappointed that Unite has once again chosen to target our customers. We are looking to ensure that all of our customers, with bookings on those two days, will travel to their destinations. We will publish more details about our contingency plans on Friday 6 January 2017.”

 

BOTH SIDES SAY THEY WANT A SOLUTION…

The airline claims it ‘remains focused on resolving this issue as quickly as possible’, while the Unite Union said that its members are legally required to take industrial action within 28 days of voting for it, unless the airline agrees to extend talks.

 

The move follows repeated attempts by Unite to hold meaningful talks with the airline after ‘mixed fleet’ cabin members voted to reject a pay offer negotiated at the conciliation service Acas, before Christmas. A two day stoppage scheduled for Christmas day and Boxing Day was suspended to allow Unite members to vote on the offer.

 

 

Commenting on the breakdown of talks, Unite National Officer Oliver Richardson said: “British Airways is needlessly provoking strike action by refusing to extend the mandate of the strike ballot and allow meaningful talks to take place.

 

UNION MAKES VERY EMOTIVE CLAIMS…

“Instead of listening to why its ‘mixed fleet’ cabin crew rejected the offer negotiated at Acas, British Airways has sought instead to try and bully a workforce of young men and women who are trying to eke out a living on poverty pay.

 

“Such game playing and a desire to seek confrontation is not only a great disservice to passengers, but shows an unwillingness by British Airways to engage in constructive industrial relations.

 

“Unite remains hopeful that a negotiated settlement which meets our members’ aspirations can be achieved and would urge British Airways to engage constructively in meaningful talks to address poverty pay.”

 

As reported, this dispute involves a total of around 4,000 cabin crew who have worked at BA since 2010 on ‘mixed fleet’ contracts. Of this number, around 2,500 are said to be Unite members.