BA "available for talks anytime"
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BA: second ballot to be held
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Unite is planning a second strike ballot of cabin crew staff at BA.
The move comes after a High Court judged ruled the first ballot, which voted overwhelmingly for strike action, was conducted "illegally".
On the strength of the nine to one vote, Unite called a 12-day stoppage at the airline, starting on December 22 which would have hit the Christmas holiday plans of about one million travellers.
In a statement issued after Mrs Justice Cox's ruling, Unite's joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley said: "We will move directly to a fresh ballot for industrial action."
Ballots take weeks to organise and the next call to vote to its 12,500 BA cabin crew members is likely to be held in late January.
In the two day High Court hearing, Mrs Cox was told by Bruce Carr, BA's counsel, that there were "serious and substantial irregularities" in the vote.
The main allegation was the people who had taken redundancy and stopped working for the airline, took part in the vote.
The union said it had done all in its power to ensure the vote was conducted correctly.
In her ruling, Mrs Cox said: "A strike of this kind over the 12 days of Christmas is fundamentally more damaging to BA and the wider public than a strike taking place at almost any other time of the year."
While BA said it was "delighted for our customers that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court," Unite called the decision a "disastrous day for democracy".
The statement of Mr Simpson and Mr Woodley added: "Let us assure you that your representatives and the union's officials did everything possible to comply with every dot and comma of the incredibly - and deliberately - complex laws designed to make industrial action very difficult, and we are shocked that the judge has made what is a clearly political ruling.
"We want to tell you unambiguously that the High Court ruling is not about the legitimacy of your case, nor is it about denying the strength of the majority feeling expressed in the ballot.
"It was simply and solely about British Airways exploiting a legal loophole concerning the balloting of colleagues who had applied for voluntary redundancy.
"We wish to make it clear to you immediately that this is not the end of the matter. BA management must understand that it cannot sub-contract the conduct of industrial relations to the High Court. The judge's decision does not mean the end of the dispute.
"Only a negotiated agreement can ensure that."
While both sides say they are available for more talks on the long running and now bitter dispute, no date has been fixed up for any meetings.
Meetings which were expected to be held yesterday (December 17) between Willie Walsh, BA's ceo, and the two union leaders, did not in the end take place.
The dispute is over BA plans to cut costs, including through job losses, after demand has fallen in the recession.
The airline said it would shed the equivalent of 3,000 jobs though voluntary redundancies and staff switching from full to part time work. It has also imposed a two year pay freeze.
But the union objected to the airline cutting cabin crew on long haul flights form 15 to 14, claiming it was a change of working practices which had not been negotiated.
BA has denied its move is a change in staff working practices.
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