Christmas stoppage looming
The ballot of 12,000 cabin crew at British Airways is due to close today (December 14) with union officials confident its members will give them a mandate for strike action over Christmas.
If the cabin crew do back a walk out, their Unite union could call a strike by December 21, raising a real fear that the UK national carrier will face disruptions over the busy Christmas break.
Talks were held last Friday (December 11) between BA's ceo Willie Walsh and the two joint secretaries of the union, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley.
But no agreement was reached between two sides which have been negotiating for months.
A spokesman for the airline said that various issues had been raised and BA had once again committed itself on Unite's views on future recruitment.
But no agreement was reached on the crucial issue of BA allegedly changing the working practice of cabin crew by cutting their numbers from 15 to 14 on Boeing 747 flights.
BA said it had offered further talks with the Unite leaders but was unable to say whether any had yet been arranged.
Unite was not available for comment.
Talks between the two sides began in the summer and at one stage involved the UK arbitration service ACAS.
The airline announced in October plans to make the equivalent of 3,000 jobs redundant with staff who wished to leave or switch to part time working.
It also announced other changes including a pay freeze and the cut in staff on the 747s.
In response, Unite issued ballot papers to its cabin crew members.
It said at the time it was concerned that the "far reaching changes" will place 747 staff under greater stress which will have a "negative impact on health and safety" and on service to passengers will suffer.
Brian Boyd, Unite's national officer for aviation, said: "The way to deliver change is through negotiation, not imposition.
"Of course the cabin crew are angry; they care passionately about this business but feel they are not being listened to on serious matters of service delivery.
The Union said it would also continue its legal action against BA.
It was refused an injunction to stop BA making the changes, but the dispute will now go to a full hearing in the New Year.
Mr Walsh urged the union to call off the ballot saying that structural change was necessary to secure long term profitability for the airline.
BA, which announced a £4.2bn merger with Iberia in November, posted a pre-tax loss of £292m for April to September earlier this month.
The airline has said it expects to make an annual loss this financial year.
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